


Pint-Sized Whiskey Girl

by FireflySummerwynd



Category: Poison (US Band)
Genre: Dwarfism, F/M, Glam Metal, hair metal
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-16
Updated: 2021-01-25
Packaged: 2021-03-14 04:00:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 19
Words: 57,716
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28789131
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FireflySummerwynd/pseuds/FireflySummerwynd
Summary: After concluding their first-ever, but grueling major tour in support of an actual album, the infant band Poison hardly take any Time off before they're back at it again. Within just a couple months of getting back home to California, the guys're back in the studio to jam and record what'll become their sophomore album.But they're not the only ones who're busy as Bees, so to speak. Their manager, Vicki, happensta be just as busy–just in different ways. Her main goal's to find somebody who can serve as Bobby's bass tech after he scared the last one off mid-tour. Even still, she's not expecting that search to be a short one–till, as if hearing her call, somebody who could easily fit the bill turns up to apply for the job. It's just that this young woman's nowhere near what she was expecting, her first view of her taking her by surprise.Topping out at a meager 4'6" and 45 pounds–50, if she's soaking wet–Aria Mancini doesn't look like much. In fact, all three blondes in the band outright laugh at her tiny stature more than anything else.
Relationships: Bobby Dall/Aria Mancini
Kudos: 1





	1. One

_September, 1987_

_Los Angeles, California_

Only a couple months after concluding their first major tour, the infant band known as Poison was back at it again. All four of the young men who comprised said band were feeling that Creative itch that all recording artists felt at one Time or another, and they couldn’t be kept outta the studio for long. Still riding the high of a far more successful album than they’d thought they’d have only heightened that Creative itch, and they were determined to scratch it.

Twenty-four-Year-old front man Bret Michaels’d already gotten a bit of a head-start on a song that could very well wind up on their sophomore album. A call home before they’d concluded their tour’d been quite the eye-opener for him, and not exactly in a good way. He was sure his girlfriend hadn’t meant to actually answer the phone that Night, but she’d still done so–and told him all he needed to know. Finding out that she was cheating on him in such a jarring way’d all but torn him to shreds, but instead of choosing to hurt himself, he’d chosen to Channel that pain into the band’s Music.

Twenty-six-Year-old drummer Rikki Rockett was more than supportive of his friend’s choice, considering everything else he’d to deal with already. God only knew the shorter blonde coulda chosen to drink himself into Oblivion–which woulda affected a different part of his Life–or simply go off the insulin he needed to survive. It was for that reason that even twenty-five-Year-old guitarist CC DeVille and twenty-three-Year-old bassist Bobby Dall also supported his choice. They’d rather see their friend Channel that pain into their Music as opposed to hurt himself–or God forbid, get himself a Life sentence by going after his ex, instead.

But that hadn’t been the only hiccup over the course of their tour, all things during that Time period considered. Somehow, the young bassist–who was also the baby and tallest of his band–had managed to scare off his bass tech in the midst of the Insanity. Even though there were no plans for another tour just yet since they didn’t have another album, that needed to be rectified before then.

It was for that reason that their manager, Vicki Hamilton, had set up an application process for pretty much anybody who wanted to apply for the job. The main requirements were knowing how to actually handle a bass and guitar–up to and including rebuilding one, if need be–and giving said instruments the reverence and Respect they deserved. While he might tear up equipment in the heat of the moment on the road, Bobby’d an uncanny connection to his favorite pieces of gear when he was at home. One’d almost think he regarded them as sacred as if they were children borne of his loins, he tended to treat them so tenderly and gently. That meant that whoever was hired as his tech needed to be the same way, or he’d run them off as quick as he’d scared off the first.

_KNOCK KNOCK!_

Glancing up from where she’d been going through applications so she could call those she thought best-suited to the job, Vicki saw what looked like a lil girl in the doorway of her office. “Are ya lost, sweetheart?”

“Not unless your name’s not Vicki Hamilton,” the tiny female answered, her voice far more high-pitched than even CC’s–no doubt due to her tiny stature. “And I’m no fuckin’ sweetheart–I’ma ball-bustin’ bitch with Brass ovaries.”

Taken aback by what a potty mouth she had for appearing to be a lil girl, she wasn’t quite sure how to respond to that statement as she entered the room and closed the door behind her.

“Name’s Aria Mancini,” she chuckled, that chuckle sounding more like a lil girl’s giggle. “Trust me, I already know what you’re thinking–I get it all the Time.”

“Um…” The young manager still wasn’t sure how to respond without offending her or something.

“I’m twenty-two Years old, four-foot-six, and forty-five pounds,” Aria told her. “That’s as big as I’m ever gonna get unless I get pregnant or something, and even then, I still won’t get any taller.”

“Do ya mind my asking why not–or is it too sensitive a topic for ya?” she queried, her Curiosity genuine.

“I was born with something called _Russell-Silver Syndrome,”_ the young woman answered. “Basically, I’ma proportional dwarf.”

Vicki’s eyes widened as she processed that, which seemed to amuse her.

“It can be kinda rough sometimes, but not as bad as if I were born were primordial dwarfism, instead,” she chuckled. “Primordial dwarves top out around two feet tall, if they’re lucky–at least I’m four and a-half feet even.”

“Yeah, I guess that’s one thing to be thankful for,” the manager agreed, nodding. “I’m guessing you’re used to being surrounded by what seem like giantsta ya?”

“Yeah, unfortunately.” Aria Returned the nod as she managed to haul herself up into the chair across from her desk. “Pretty much the only people my size’re elementary schoolers since this ain’t exactly a common disease.”

Assured that she’d be able to tolerate working with at least one giant, as viewed from her eyes, Vicki got down to business. She wanted to know how much experience she already had with Music and the instruments that produced it. It turned out that this tiny woman’d been tearing apart and rebuilding her own custom instruments ever since she was a child, and she was damned good at it, too.

The manager listened as she explained that she’d gotten into such a thing ’cuz one of her older brothers’d been trying to rebuild an old guitar. His fingers were so big that he couldn’t get to certain areas, no matter what he’d tried, and he’d nearly given up on the endeavor. When she’d toddled into his bedroom, said brother was more relieved to see a then-six-Year-old Aria than annoyed at the invasion of his private Space. She mighta somewhat been exploited for her tiny fingers when he’d gotten her to help him, but it’d sparked a Love she’d never outgrown since.

Aria snickered as she admitted that, if anything, helping her brother at such a young age’d only made her wanna be more like the rock stars she grew up listening to. Unfortunately, while she could sing pretty good–despite how her voice sounded–and was even better at playing custom guitars and basses, she doubted she’d ever achieve _that_ particular Dream.

“I mean, as tiny as I am, I’d prolly never find a band to join,” the young woman pointed out. “And I prolly wouldn’t have any better Luck with forming my own band.”

“’Cuz the rest of the World just doesn’t understand folks your size, right?” Vicki queried.

“Sadly, yeah.” She nodded, a somewhat melancholy look spreading across her face. “I mean, it’s hard enough to find a boyfriend–most guys either don’t like girls as tiny as me, they think I’ma freak, or they’re too scared of hurting me to actually _be_ with me, hint hint.”

The manager didn’t miss what she meant in the slightest, knowing she was referring to her sex Life–or maybe more aptly, lack thereof.

“If the closest I can get is being a tech for someone in a band, I’ll take it,” Aria told her. “At least I get to play around with instruments more than I do right now, if nothing else.”

“Yeah, I suppose that’s true,” she agreed with a nod. “I just hope ya can handle working with the guys I’m interviewing ya for.”

The tiny woman cocked a brow curiously, her hand moving in a gesture for her to continue.

“I doubt you’ll have any problems with the one you’ll _actually_ be the tech of, Bobby,” Vicki chuckled. “He’s closer to being a hipster than not, even though he can be pretty wild sometimes.”

“Define _wild_ for me, ’cuz our definitions might be different,” she dead-panned.

Laughing, the manager explained that the man in question’d an insanely high Energy level, even for somebody his age. He seemed to be constantly on the move–his band mates even complained that he wiggled, squirmed, and flailed in his sleep a lot. It was for that reason that none of them could share a bed with him, not ’cuz they didn’t wanna be viewed as bisexual or gay when they really weren’t. Not only that, but he’d a tendency to disappear between shows and have to get fansta drive him to the next venue so he’d actually make his performances.

But the thing she was quick to warn Aria about was that he also seemed to be attracted to girls not much different than herself. If there was anyone he gravitated toward more, it was Dark-toned, exotic-looking girls who could only be described as _petite_. She definitely fit the bill on all those counts, as far as she was concerned, so she knew that might cause a problem.

The tiny woman giggled at the Thought of one of these giants being genuinely attracted to her, considering her past Luck with guys. But at the same Time, she told her that the attraction might not be mutual, if Bobby turned out to be attracted to her at all. She could be kinda picky about what she liked in a guy, and if he somehow didn’t quite fit the bill, she’d make no bones about it. In fact, she’d prolly use her height to her advantage for whacking him one right where it hurt the most, if need be.

Vicki couldn’t help another laugh at her feisty, but genuinely caring personality as she pushed herself up from her desk. She said that the deciding factor in whether she was hired or not’d be whether she could get along with even the band mates of the guy who’d technically be her boss. If she couldn’t get along with even the trio of blondes, having her as Bobby’s tech prolly wouldn’t work out. None of them needed to be fighting and arguing with the crew, but she wasn’t gonna subject her to being constantly picked on due to her size. That’d make her lay any of those blondes out like she was one of them, considering she generally didn’t resort to Violence.

“Guys!” the manager called, making sure she could be heard over their jamming as she walked into the studio they were using.

“What’s up, Vic?” Rikki asked from behind his kit as he stilled his cymbals.

“Got somebody I wantcha to meet,” she answered, the others cocking their brows curiously. “Figured I’d get a head-start on replacing Bobby’s tech so he’d actually have Time to get to know them before any Future tours.”

“Ugh, if it weren’t for how lil Time we’ve to even take a shit between shows, I’d ask why you’re even bothering,” said brunette grumbled, rolling his eyes.

“Yeah, well, it’s for that reason that I’m bothering,” Vicki chuckled. “Ya can’t handle shows, interviews, maintenance on your gear, _and_ taking care of yourself entirely on your own.”

“Unfortunately,” he agreed, although it was obvious that he was reluctant to. “So, who’ve ya got for us to meet?”

“This is Aria,” the manager said, side-stepping so the tiny woman could be seen.

“What elementary school’dja pluck this one outta?” Bret laughed, almost dropping his guitar.

“I’d tread lightly, if I were you, blondie,” Aria snapped, glaring at him in a way that made him sober up. “I might be a pipsqueak, but I fight dirty.”

All three blondes and even Bobby traded looks with each other, unsure of how to respond to that.

“I grew up with four older brothers–my tiny size made it easy to hit ’em where it hurts when they got on my nerves,” she snickered. “And sparring with those four taught me how to fight so I’d know, if I ever needed to defend myself.”

“Jeez, she’s more wily than me,” CC chuckled, setting his own guitar on its stand. “And that’s saying something since I’m pretty wily.”

“It’s always the short-stubs, dude,” the drummer laughed. “They tend to be the most wily unless they combine that Nature with Bobby’s high Energy.”

“I resemble that remark,” the bassist dead-panned, shooting him a dirty look.

Even Bret shot him a mischievous grin and told him to quit thinking with his lil head, which they could already tell he was doing. Just like Vicki, they knew him and his taste in women well enough to know what was going through his _big_ head without having to ask. No doubt he was imagining how many different positions he could get this girl in without breaking her, and he didn’t know anything about her other than her name.

Rolling her eyes as his face and neck turned red, the tiny woman warned him not to try anything beyond talking to her for the moment. She wasn’t one to sleep with a guy till she got to know him, if only so she’d know if he’d stop or not, should she tell him to. After all, it wouldn’t be the first Time she’d slept with a guy a lot taller than her, so she wasn’t afraid of that part.

Bobby’s blush only deepened, his mind awhirl as he swore he’d never do such a thing to her, no matter what else crossed his mind. He liked his partners willing a lil too much to do such a thing, whether he was Stone-cold sober or rotted outta his mind. For that reason, if he ever made a pass at her when she didn’t want him to, he wouldn’t blame her for going after his nuts. Course, he’d prefer that she just kick him in the knee or something since that’d hurt, but at least it wouldn’t be blinding like a nut-shot’d be for him.

Nodding her agreement on that particular truce, Aria was content to just chill out with the guys and get to know them better. She shot dirty looks at the trio of blondes, who still seemed Intent on picking on her at least a lil bit, warning them to watch it. She didn’t wanna have to hurt any of them, but if they pushed enough of her buttons–well, she wasn’t taking Responsibility for any injuries they incurred. It didn’t matter whether they were talking about momentary blinding pain from a nut-shot, or her actually beating the shit outta them like she was their size–or they were hers. Besides, she was more interested in the Music they were making and anything to do with that than having to hurt them unnecessarily.


	2. Two

Over the next month or so, the band slowly got to know more about their newest crew member, and she definitely turned out to be full of surprises. They hadn’t wanted to believe her when she said that her brothers oft likened her talent on guitar to folks like Eddie Van Halen, but they’d quickly been forced to. Giving them a bemused look, she’d sworn she was gonna bring her own gear one Day when they were heading into the studio, and she’d put her money where her mouth was.

Watching her actually shred better than CC could–despite her tiny size–was actually quite the turn-on for Bobby. He’d to readjust his bass so he could cross his legs, or the sudden boner he’d found himself sporting woulda been obvious for anyone who cared to look. This tiny woman was damn good at what she did, and having already been attracted to her wasn’t helping his plight in the slightest.

Aria couldn’t help a snicker as she muted her strings, knowing exactly what was wrong with him–especially when his face turned bright red like it’d done the Day they’d met. She’d almost wanted to think that Vicki’d been kidding about the kinda girls he was most attracted to, but she knew better within a week. Outta all the girls that veritably threw themselves at him when he was just walking down the street or something, his attention seemed to always wind up riveted on the ones who were most like herself. Granted, she wasn’t exactly hoping for anything beyond a boss-employee kinda relationship, but it was still niceta know that she hadn’t been lied to.

Just a couple Days before Halloween–which she celebrated as something totally different–the lone brunette of the band surprised her. Waiting till after the rest of his band had packed up and headed home for the Night, he’d bitten back his Anxiety and actually asked her on a date. The boyish, almost shy look on his face and how his voice shook was what’d convinced her to say yes more than even the slightest attraction she felt toward him. However, she’d to decline having said date on Halloween unless it was gonna be a lunch date or something to that effect.

“Why’s that, though?” Bobby queried, a curious look on his face.

“Already got other plans for that Night that I do every Year,” the tiny woman chuckled. “So, it’s nothing personal or anything.”

“Now, you’ve me curious,” he laughed. “Not that I’ma ask, if ya don’t wanna talk about it, that is.”

“Eh, I generally choose not to when I see certain signs, but I make occasional exceptions,” Aria admitted.

The bassist cocked a brow, wondering what she meant.

“I’m short, not stupid, Bobby,” she told him. “I know what that cross around your neck means, and that most who wear ’em aren’t exactly open-minded.”

“I’d like to think _I’m_ pretty open-minded,” Bobby said. “I mean, c’mon–I practically dress in drag for work. How much more open-minded have ya gotta be to be a straight guy who does that shit willingly?”

“I guess you’ve a point,” the tiny woman agreed. “Just don’t mention it to the others, or I’ll deny it in a heartbeat.”

Nodding, he was more than agreeable to that since she’d tell them if and when she was ready to, if she ever did.

“I grew up in a Pagan household,” Aria admitted. “My mom’s actually Greek, and as far as I know, my dad was Italian.”

“Well, that certainly explains quite a bit of your exotic looks,” the bassist chuckled, pleasantly surprised to find out about that.

“Well, Aria’s an Italian name that means _Air, song,_ or _Melody,”_ she explained. “And one of my middle names– _Cadenza_ –is the Italian word for _Cadence.”_

Bobby couldn’t help another chuckle as he remarked on how that combined with what she’d told them about helping her brother rebuild his guitar explained her interest in Music. He’d be pretty surprised to meet anyone with such a musical name who _didn’t_ want anything to do with it. Even still, he couldn’t help wondering how that tied back to their original conversation, although he didn’t actually ask.

The tiny woman took care of answering his unasked question without the slightest bit of prodding, though. It turned out that her mother was more like the Ancient Greeks, as opposed to the more Modern ones who fell under the umbrella of Catholicism. For that reason, she’d wanted her daughter to have a more unorthodox name, but still tied back to both halves of her heritage. That was how she’d wound up with the additional middle name of _Elysia,_ which meant _home of the Blessed_ since it referenced the Elysian Fields outta Greek Mythology.

However, for all that she was Greek and actually something called Etruscan by blood, the Greek and Roman Pantheons weren’t the only ones she utilized in her personal practices. A thoughtful look crossed her face as she said that she supposed preferring other Pantheons was purely instinctive on her part. There was only so much one could learn about one’s own culture before it got boring and they wanted to move on to something else, after all.

For that reason, Aria’d found herself gravitating more toward the ways of the Ancient Celts than anything else. Still, she was also highly attracted to the Norse Pantheon–particularly the Finnish branch–and she couldn’t quite put her finger on why. Maybe it was ’cuz her blood lines stemmed equally from places that were warm and cool–after all, her father’d hailed from the Italian Alps while her mother’d been born and raised on the Coast of Southeastern Greece. It was entirely possible that–unlike when said mother’d moved to the States while pregnant with her–she was more interested in the ways of places that were the polar opposite of where she hailed from.

“That actually kinda makes sense,” the bassist mused, rubbing his chin in Thought as if stroking a non-existent beard.

“Well, my mom was from just South of a Town called Artémida, which was across the peninsula from Athens,” she chuckled. “It was warm and dry during the Summer, but had long, cold, Windy Winters that’d more partly Cloudy Days than not.”

Bobby nodded, unable to help how interested he was since he’d never been to such a place before.

“My dad’s hometown was all of ten or twenty miles from the Swiss border,” the tiny woman continued. “Mama always said it was a lil cooler there in Bolzano, prolly due to the elevation, but not by much. And Bolzano’s rainy Season’s during the Summer months, whereas Artémida’s is during the Winter months.”

“So, it’s pretty much Balanced, but leans more toward the warmer side during the Summer, especially where your mom’s from?” he queried, making sure he’d heard her right.

_“Mmm hmm.”_ Aria hummed as she nodded. “On the other hand, places like Finland’re pretty much the polar opposite.”

“I gotta admit that I’m more than a lil curious,” the bassist chuckled.

“I wound up with a pen-pal back in middle school who’s a few Years younger than me,” she told him. “The Town where he’s from in Eastern Finland doesn’t tend to get any warmer than seventy-one degrees, and that’s on the hottest Day of the Year in late-July.”

Bobby couldn’t help laughing as he thought of where he hailed from near Miami, Florida, which was about as far South in the US as one could get without winding up on an Island or near the Mexican border. He recalled how, as a child, he could go outside in nothing but shorts and a tank top in the middle of Winter, and it felt great. On the other hand, once he was forced into moving up to Pennsylvania for the second Time around the age of fifteen, he’d hated the Weather more than he didn’t. All that Snow combined with the frigid temperatures nearly threw him into shock just from opening the front door to grab the newspaper off their front stoop or something equally quick like that.

The tiny woman grinned as she said that she’d taken a trip to Finland as a foreign exchange student during her sophomore Year of high school. While she was no more fond of the cold and Snow than he seemed to be, she couldn’t help but love the landscape and culture. She’d grown up in the Southern Appalachians, so she liked the flat Land that was dotted with Ponds and Lakes all over the place. That, and there was just something about Finnish Deities that Called to her more than any others ever did.

“I mean, I worship the very ground that Pan–or the Great Horned God–walks on and rules,” Aria explained. “But there’s just something about Tapio, the Finnish God of the Forest, that strikes a more harmonious chord in me, so to speak.”

“Got any others that’re like that?” he asked, more than enjoying talking to her about this kinda stuff.

“Well, Poseidon and Neptune’re the God of the Sea in Greek and Roman Mythology, respectively,” the tiny woman said, clearly wracking her brain. “But the Finnish Sea God, Ahti, reels me in more than those two do.”

Bobby grunted thoughtfully as he pondered that.

“Then there’s Mielikki, whose basically Tapio’s wife and whose legends tell of her being the Healer of the Ill and Sad,” she continued. “And I can’t forget their _helper,_ as it were, Tellervo.”

“How on Earth can ya pronounce their names right?” the bassist queried on a laugh.

“Well, I’m fluent in English, Greek, and Italian, for starters,” Aria answered with a grin. “And during my Time as a foreign exchange student, my host family helped me with learning Finnish so that I’m almost completely fluent in it, too.”

“Note to Self–if I hear a foreign language coming outta your mouth, run!” he chuckled.

Unable to help a laugh of her own, the tiny woman was quick to steer their conversation back to the original topic. Her reason for not wanting to have a date on Halloween Night was that–in accordance with her Celtic interests–it was the Night of _Samhain_. It was the Night when one celebrated the triumph of Life over Death, Light over Darkness, and most importantly, remembered and venerated their Ancestors. The Ancient Finns were kinda similar in that respect, and she tried not to miss that particular Sabbat unless she was seriously sick or something.

But Aria surprised him by saying that not only was that Night a significant religious holiday for her since Greco-Roman Traditions _didn’t_ celebrate it or its polar opposite, _Beltane,_ it was also her birthday. Even if she didn’t partake in anything religious on that Night, she always took her birthday as her one _Day or Night off,_ as it were. All she tended to do if it wasn’t Ritualistic or otherwise religious in Nature was basically prove that she could outdrink her brothers, despite her tiny size.

Bobby couldn’t help the Thought of a woman who barely reached the bottom of his chest being able to outdrink a guy his size, if not bigger. There was just something about it that was highly amusing, and he kinda wanted to see it for himself. Course, he wasn’t one to invite himself to something, so he doubted he’d get to see such an occurrence this Year. And there was no guarantees that they’d continue getting along well enough for him to see it next Year, either. If all he’d to work with were the images that his Imagination cooked up, he’d just have to be happy enough with those images.

However, that was when the bassist got yet another surprise when she grinned up at him, a bit of a mischievous twinkle glinting in her eyes. She told him that as long as he could behave himself, she wasn’t gonna exclude him from her celebration–even though nudity was involved. But if he didn’t think he could behave himself so he wouldn’t mess her up, it was prolly better that he _not_ watch, after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For a better idea of the height difference between Bobby and Aria, check the Wattpad posting of this chapter. I embedded a picture I made from a couple scraps off a totally unrelated site to the very End of the chapter over there.  
> ~Firefly


	3. Three

Bobby’d spent all his free Time thinking about the invitation that’d been extended to him by the tiny woman who’d been hired as his bass tech. When it was all said and done, he’d decided against bearing witnessta the _Samhain_ Ritual she Intended to do for the Sabbat in question. He wasn’t entirely sure he could behave himself, if there was actually nudity involved like she said there was, considering his attraction to her and how long it’d been since he’d gotten laid.

To that End, he’d gotten her to tell him at least the approximate Time that her birthday party’d be starting since that’d come _after_ the Ritual. Aria couldn’t tell him _exactly_ what Time, ’cuz some Rituals’d run longer than others would, and even the same Ritual could Change from one Year to the next. She might have additional people to add to her list for Remembrance, or a cord-cutting to perform that she hadn’t had the Year previous. One wouldn’t know about those kinda things a Year in advance, so it was hard to say exactly how long any given Ritual’d take.

Even still, the bassist was surprised by the house he finally pulled up outside of after a forty-five minute drive. Just outside Santa Clarita, the house was far bigger than he’d have thought she’d live in, even though he was well aware of her older brothers. Then again, he didn’t realize that it wasn’t ’cuz she actually lived with said siblings just yet, although he would soon enough.

“Can I help you?”

Bobby managed to bite back his Anxiety as he was forced to actually look up to lock eyes with the guy who answered his knock–who _had_ to’ve been every bit of seven feet tall. “Well, I’m hoping that Aria’s actually here, or I’ma look even more like an idiot than I’m sure I already do.”

The guy’s eyes seemed to light up, but he clearly still had his guard up, too. “Ya must be this _Bobby_ she’s practically been babbling about.”

“Babbling, huh?” he chuckled as he stepped back to let him in.

“Doesn’t matter what language comes outta her mouth,” he laughed, closing the door behind him. “Even if it’s Finnish, there’s a _Bobby_ in there somewhere more often than not.”

“Well, consider me flattered,” Bobby told him. “It’s not very often that chicks wanna babble about me short of my career at this point.”

“I’ll ask about that some other Time,” the taller man chuckled. “Name’s Jonas, by the way.”

“Clearly, ya already know mine–well, the nickname most call me, anywhore,” he said. “I usually prefer Rob, if it’s nothing to do with my career and the person wanting my attention ain’t my mom.”

“Duly noted.” Jonas nodded as he turned toward the right side of the staircase, which sported its own Water feature. “Aria, _párte xaná ta kataraména roúcha sas prin chtypíso to kefáli kápoiou!”_

“Bobby _kalýtera na eímai edó, í méno Ouranós-ntyménos, to kataraméno!”_ a voice he recognized all too well responded from what he thought was prolly a more informal living room.

_“Arketá sígouros óti eínai o_ Bobby, _kathós aftó eípe óti to ónomá tou ítan!”_ the giant beside him retorted with a grin.

There was an obvious rustling that sounded like somebody trying to get dressed with a quickness that preceded a quick pattering from the far side of what was obviously the formal dining room. “Hey, Bobby!”

“Good God, don’t the two of ya make a sight?” he laughed, easily catching her when she launched herself at him. “Course, we make a sight of our own, but jeez–I actually had to look up to look your brother in the eye!”

Laughing, the tiny woman formally introduced him to said brother, who was actually the youngest of her older brothers. Jonas turned out to be twenty-seven, and he _woulda_ been the baby of the family–if his parents hadn’t had the _happy accident_ known as his baby sister. The sour look that crossed his face warned him not to ask about that, his sister saying that she’d explain it later as they headed toward where he heard other voices coming from.

Scattered between the massive chef’s kitchen–which almost caught the bassist’s eye more than Aria did, herself–were three more giants and a slightly taller-than-average woman. These three giants were introduced as said midget’s other three brothers–Nico, Orion, and Antonio–and her mother, Calypso. Her mother told him to simply call her Cali, just as her oldest brother said that he was fine with Tony since they were nicknames for their actual given names. In all Honesty, it wasn’t really that much different than him preferring Rob, but a lotta folks calling him Bobby, instead.

Leading him over to the family room, which overlooked part of the back yard from one side and what appeared to be a courtyard from the other, the guys made no bones about giving him a once-over. Bobby wasn’t entirely sure how he felt about that, but he’d kinda been expecting it when he’d been told they were gonna be here tonight.

“So, you’re our sister’s boss, huh?” Tony queried curiously as he settled on the couch that actually faced the fireplace.

“If ya wanna call it that,” the bassist answered. “I mean, she was hired by my manager to be my bass tech, so I didn’t exactly have much choice there.”

“Wait, whaddaya mean _your manager?”_ Orion queried.

“Like I was telling Jonas, it’s kinda refreshing to hear about a girl babbling about me ’cuz she actually likes me, not ’cuz of my career,” he chuckled, grinning when a certain woman’s face turned red.

“I _was not_ babbling aboutcha!” said tiny woman denied emphatically.

“Yeah, sure–I’ll letcha keep living in that lil Fantasy Land,” Bobby laughed, pulling her against his side to gently ruffle her hair.

“You’re cruisin’ for a bruisin’, Dall!” she warned him, managing to worm her way outta his grip.

“It’ll be worth it, even if it includes a crotch-shot,” the bassist retorted.

“Wait, Dall?” This was asked by Nico, whose eyes widened almost comically. “You’re seriously the bassist of that new band, Poison?”

“In the flesh,” he answered with a grin. “Ask my manager, and she’ll say I scared off my last tech before we killed off our tour in July.”

Even Aria hadn’t heard this particular story, so she was just as curious as her mother and brothers.

“It wasn’t that I scared him off, _per sé,”_ Bobby explained. “I kept noticing things of mine going missing, and when I found them in his suitcase–well, I basically told him to get lost, or I was gonna make him rue the Day he was born.”

The oldest of this particular brood nodded and said that he didn’t blame him for reacting like that, even if he told the rest of his band and crew something totally different. He couldn’t say that he’d have reacted much differently, if he stuck with a rather Calm reaction, and be telling the Truth. Then again, if he were completely honest, he’d have prolly just knocked the guy’s lights out and left him to come to in an alley or something.

Chuckling, the bassist couldn’t deny that he’d _wanted_ to knock his previous tech’s lights out for stealing from him. But as crazy as a tour was on its own, he knew that firing him on the spot was gonna make things that much crazier without setting himself up for a lawsuit, at the very least. He hadn’t wanted to wind up charged with assault or anything, so he’d decided against Violence for once.

Orion was the one to question what he meant by that, and he made no bones about how he and the rest of his band had been known to duke it out from Time to Time. There were occasions that were simply best solved by knocking each others’ heads off in a figurative sense, ’cuz nothing else worked on guys as stubborn and hard-headed as they tended to be. But the good thing about them was that no matter how they treated each other–or even other guys–when it came to that kinda behavior, they’d never raise a hand to a woman. It didn’t matter whether the woman in question was Aria’s height or any of her brothers’–they’d been raised not to hit a woman, all the same.

It seemed that Cali was the most relieved to hear that, but she was every bit as approving of his mentality as her sons were. Bobby knew that was no doubt ’cuz of her daughter’s size, which meant she could prolly be hurt a lot easier than most women could. Course, that made him even more curious about _why_ she was so small since she’d never told him–or any of the rest of his band mates, for that matter. And what lil she’d told Vicki didn’t really explain much, just that she’d some kinda disease she’d never get rid of, much like Bret and his diabetes.

“She was born with _Russell-Silver Syndrome,”_ her mother started, pulling one of the bar stools around so she could join the rest of the group.

“I’m afraid I’ve never heard of that before,” the bassist admitted sheepishly.

“Not many have, ’cuz it’s fairly rare,” Cali chuckled. “The basic gist’s that it’s a type of dwarfism apparent even _before_ Birth.”

His eyes widened as he listened, and he couldn’t help glancing down at the tiny woman settled next to him.

“Since Mom’s English’s pretty good, but not as good as ours…” Tony nabbed his attention by picking up the tale. “Folks with _Russell-Silver_ are basically a failure to thrive–they don’t grow like they should in the womb, nor after Birth.”

“Which explains why you’re so short, especially compared to your brothers,” Bobby mused.

“That, and my lack of appetite since that’s one of the key features, too,” she told him. “I’ve to force myself to eat so my blood sugar won’t drop too low more often than I don’t.”

“Note to Self–tell Bret to bring extra supplies when we’re all grouped in the studio together,” the bassist said, chuckling when her family looked curious. “One of my band mates is diabetic, so I doubt he’d argue helping keep an eye out for her sugar, if it meant she _didn’t_ die under our care.”

“Fair enough,” Nico agreed with a nod.

Turning his attention back to the oldest of the bunch, Bobby listened as he explained that it wasn’t till _after_ their baby sister was born that she was diagnosed. After all, the most defining features were having a small, triangular face, which was hard to make out clearly on an ultrasound. It was even harder to make out other characteristic features like her pinkies curving inward toward her ring fingers and any asymmetry in her limbs.

He didn’t even have to ask to know that Aria’d a hard Life growing up, and for more than one reason, as a result of her disease. Not only did her facial features look a lil funny, but she’d always been far shorter than the rest of her peers. She’d been the size of a typical newborn till right around the age of five, which was when she’d finally hit a growth spurt. After that, she’d finally grown to her current height, then stopped growing at all around the age of sixteen like most girls. But those weren’t the only problems she’d suffered with as a child, which just made him wince sympathetically as he listened.

Not only was physical growth delayed, but so were other forms of development, which oft led to learning difficulties in school. That wasn’t to say that the tiny woman was stupid or anything–she just learned at a slower rate than other folks her age. It was for that reason that she was mostly homeschooled, only a couple Days a week spent in an actual public school, when she was younger.

“That, and it was insanely hard to find clothes for her to wear,” Cali chuckled. “Everything that was her size was for babies and toddlers.”

“Imagine a girl just hitting puberty having to wear stuff with baby _Looney Tunes_ or something like that on it to school,” Jonas snickered.

“She’d get into more fights with other girls over being picked on for what she was forced to wear till Mom got the hang of sewing,” Nico agreed.

“But once I gained skill and became a better seamstress–well, that opened up a whole new door,” the family matriarch said. “I started making her clothes so that she’d more mature clothing in sizes that’d fit babies and toddlers, and it set off a chain reaction.”

“That’s why she’s one of the most renowned seamstresses in the area now,” Aria giggled. “She makes a lotta what other celebrities wear, designs off-the-wall wedding attire, and the like.”

“That certainly explains being able to afford a house this big!” he laughed. “’Cuz I was surprised by what I pulled up in front of, but I wasn’t gonna ask about it since I figured that’d be crossing a line.”

“Well, it wasn’t till after we moved out here when I was twelve that her business _really_ took off,” the tiny woman admitted. “Once we moved out here and other kids got wind of what she made for me, she started getting commissions for various shit.”

“Then it snowballed into taking more than just commissions,” her oldest brother chuckled. “Now, i-’s to the point that those of us who’ve wives get saddled with taking inventory while our wives’re helping with the designs and sewing.”

“Hey, can’t say that a family business is a bad thing,” Bobby told them. “We’re just gonna have to keep our mouths shut, or you’ll have our manager wanting ya to design the stuff for our photo shoots and whatnot.”

He couldn’t help laughing as even Aria turned a curious look on him, memories already replaying themselves across his mind’s eye. Even as early as when the band had first come out West from Penn, he’d been the one to get stuck in more lighter-toned clothing than not. Then again, it made him stand out more than if he dressed in Darker Colors, considering that he was the only brunette in the band. But while he tended to get stuck in lighter tones or pure white, the rest of the guys were all stuck with the Darker tones or bright, flashy Colors since they were all blonde.

The bassist went on to say that if Vicki got wind of his tech’s mother being a fashion designer, no doubt she’d try to hire her to design all the guys’ clothes for Music videos and photo shoots. If having that kinda in could save them a few bucks, she’d exploit it tend waysta Sun’s Day, even if that added to what already sounded like a hefty workload.

Cali hummed thoughtfully as she mulled that idea over, ever quick to say that she wouldn’t mind doing something like that every once in a while. However, she knew how that kinda thing could quickly snowball into her winding up on exclusive retainer, too. Such a thing happening might not be the worst thing to ever happen to her–it could get her designs out there even more than they already were. But she didn’t wanna stress out herself, nor her daughters-in-law by taking on _too_ many commissions.

“That’s exactly why I said we need to just keep our mouths shut,” Bobby told her. “’Cuz I’m the business-minded one of my band. I get how saving a dollar can go a long way, how good investments can garner huge returns and all, but I’m not gonna exploit someone like that–and I’m not letting the others do that, either.”

“Sounds like a man with morals, Ma,” Nico mused, his brothers grinning.

“Never a bad thing, especially if he’s in a band that’d have folks believing otherwise,” the youngest of them said.

“Definitely not,” the oldest agreed. “Especially if a couple of the looks I’ve seen in his eyes’re anything to go by.”

The bassist didn’t try to deny anything, but he also didn’t admit to anything, either.

“None of us’re stupid, Bobby,” Tony chuckled. “If you’re not thinking–well, let’s go with _impure Thoughts_ here–about our sister, I’ll eat my own foot.”

He couldn’t help how his face turned red as he realized he’d been had. “I’m not denying anything, but I admit to nothing.”

“Don’t even try that,” Aria warned him with a giggle. “Even _I’ve_ seen some of the looks you’ve shot me every once in a while.”

Bobby couldn’t help a groan, part of him Wishing the floor’d just open up and swallow him whole.

“Like I toldja the Day we met, I don’t really care aboutcha looking,” the tiny woman said. “And neither do my brothers.”

“It’s only if ya get to touching when she doesn’t wantcha to that we’ve a problem,” Orion warned him. “’Cuz that’s when we get even more overprotective than we already are.”

“I can safely say that I prefer my partners willing a lil too much to try anything–ahem, unsavory,” he assured them. “Just ’cuz I like Dark-toned, exotic-looking, petite chicks doesn’t mean I’ma do anything beyond test the Waters, so to speak.”

“Fair enough,” the baby of the brothers chuckled. “If she wants it, who’re we to tell her she can’t have it–whatever _it_ happensta be?”

The entire group cracked up at that, all of them finally able to relax more than they’d been ever since the bassist’s arrival. Even still, he was well aware of all of them watching him almost as if they expected him to somehow rescind his word. He’d absolutely no Intention of so much as hugging their sister, if she didn’t want him to, and he Intended to prove that to them.

By the Time Midnight rolled around, even Cali was intoxicated a lil too much to so much as drive a golf cart across the yard. Tony was the one to put his foot down, though, ’cuz he was the one who took Bobby’s keys and hid them in his own bedroom so he wouldn’t leave before he’d sobered up. Not only that, but he was the one who hefted him up like he was Aria’s size and carried him to the guest room across from the formal dining room. Once he was settled, he went back for his baby sister, whom he carried up to her own room in what was essentially an apartment over the garage.

While he hadn’t even come closeta getting laid tonight–and still prolly wouldn’t the next Day–he couldn’t say this’d been an entirely bad Night. Sure, the tiny woman’s older brothers scared the shit outta him–who _wouldn’t_ be scared by guys that all towered roughly a foot over them?–but he felt like they’d already come to an accord, of sorts. The feeling that as long as he didn’t somehow hurt her, they wouldn’t oppose him dating her, was strong as he settled into the guest bed with a sigh.

But even as he slowly drifted off, the bassist still couldn’t help wondering if trying to date his new tech was a smart idea or not. Like he’d said downstairs, he was the businessman of his band, and he well knew that mixing business with pleasure oft wasn’t smart. Then again, maybe things’d work out so that he could have his cake and eat it, too, metaphorically speaking. And even if things _didn’t_ work out quite like that, no one ever said that the tiny woman _had_ to be his new tech. He’d let her make her own choice, if it came down to being his tech or being his girlfriend, rather than being both simultaneously, so she’d feel like she’d at least a _lil_ Control over her own Fate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's a link to the house I chose as the setting for this chapter. I know I didn't come closeta conveying just how _outta his element_ Bobby's supposed to feel, but I blame that on being tired and distracted. LOL!  
> ~Firefly
> 
> Link to Mancini Family Home–https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/26644-Brooken-Ave-Canyon-Country-CA-91387/68978015_zpid/?


	4. Four

The next Morn, Aria was already up and about when she heard the guest room door open from more or less across the hall. Her mother’d gotten the short bank of upper and lower cabinets on the other side of the archway from the stove ripped out and replaced with a set better suited for herself. On one of those lowered counters was where she kept her personal coffee pot, which made at least one thing about her Life a lil easier.

As she was lacing her coffee with half-and-half once she’d poured her mug, she couldn’t help a soft giggle at what she heard. Judging by the groan she heard, it was pretty obvious that Bobby was up and off to the bathroom next door to where Tony’d put him the Night previous. Considering how schnockered he’d gotten, she was sure he’d a helluva headache, now that he was conscious again.

Sure enough, he finally shuffled into the kitchen moments after she heard the toilet flush and the sink run long enough to suggest he’d been washing his hands. From the look on his face, the tiny woman was sure her assumption about him being hungover was true, and she was already armed. There was always some kinda pain reliever in one of her lowered upper cabinets, ’cuz when she said she liked proving that she could outdrink her brothers, she wasn’t kidding. But that came at the price of a pounding head afterward, and coffee was what she washed said pills down with every Time.

“Thanks,” he grumbled as he took what she pressed into his hand.

“I kinda figuredja could use something for your head right about now,” Aria giggled, careful to mind her volume since she couldn’t help the pitch of her voice.

“Got that right,” the bassist agreed. “That and coffee’re musts right now, if anyone wantsta see the Sun set later.”

“Hey, I get it, ’cuz I’m the same way,” she told him.

“Somehow, I’m not surprised,” Bobby chuckled, moving to pour his own coffee. “I mean, you’re at least half-Italian. I haven’t met or heard of an Italian yet that _doesn’t_ have a hot temper, even when they’re not hungover.”

“The Greeks’re just as bad,” the tiny woman snickered. “Get Mama started the right way, and she almost _seems_ Italian.”

“Too many Years spent with your father before ya were born that rubbed off.”

Turning around from where he’d been facing the island, he saw that Cali’d apparently gotten up and decided to join them in the kitchen.

“Your father and I were together from the Time we were sixteen,” she recalled. “Not saying that it was your fault, _per sé,_ but you’re the reason he ran off like he did.”

“Apparently, Daddy wanted nothing to do with a blighted baby,” Aria dead-panned, rolling her eyes when she noticed his curious look. “He didn’t care about gender or anything like that–finding out there was something wrong with me was enough to send him packing.”

“That explains the nasty look on Jonas’ face last Night,” he mused. “Not that I was gonna ask about it, whether your family was around or not.”

The family matriarch couldn’t help a chuckle as she commended him on his ability to bite his tongue when he felt like it. Being curious was one thing, but knowing when he could and couldn’t push certain buttons was a completely different story. What none of them realized was that he’d a damn good reason for biting his tongue that even her daughter wouldn’t have expected.

Bobby sighed as he raised his coffee mug for his first sip, which he used to wash down whatever pain reliever he’d been given. Following a momentary pause that was used to collect his Thoughts, he admitted that he was a lot different from his band mates, and he didn’t mean just on the Surface. Aside from being the only brunette in the band, he was also the only one who came from a truly broken home, as far as he knew. It wasn’t something that he talked about lightly or easily, ’cuz it was one of the reasons he tended to drink heavily.

For as long as he could remember, his mother and older siblings’d made no bones about how his father’d abandoned their family. Nothing’d been done on either of his parents’ partsta avoid more children after his sister’s Birth, yet his father’d accused his mother of cheating when she turned up pregnant for the third Time. In a way, it was somewhat his fault that the man’d turned into a dead-beat, but at the same Time, one couldn’t really say that it was truly his fault.

“I mean, I was a lovable accident–at least, for Mom,” the bassist sighed. “But the bastard took off before I was even born, just ’cuz he didn’t want more than two kids.”

Cali and Aria both winced sympathetically, the latter of the pair knowing exactly how he felt, just for slightly different reasons.

“But if I won’t talk about my own family history readily most of the Time, why should I expect anyone elseta do the same?” he queried. “And if I don’t like being asked about it, why should I think it’s all right to start prying, whether I like Aria as more than a friend or not?”

“Both fair points, young man,” the family matriarch admitted.

“Personally, I don’t really mind talking about it,” her daughter said. “Besides, knowing you’ve pretty much the same Past–just with fewer siblings–makes it a lil easier.”

“’Cuz I get it without having to use as many words,” Bobby chuckled. “Kinda like _my_ siblings’d get where yours’re coming from with fewer words, too.”

“And what’s that supposed to mean?”

Once again momentarily startled, the bassist turned to see all four of Aria’s brothers joining them.

“Turns out I’m not the only one in this room abandoned while in utero,” she told them. “And he’s the baby of _his_ family, too.”

Four pairs of eyes that were equally Dark widened as they got the implications.

“Yeah, not exactly something I like talking about,” he said. “Which’s why I was kinda curious about Jonas’ nasty look when he said something about how he’d have been the baby, if it weren’t for Aria coming along when she did, but I knew better than to ask about it.”

Jonas couldn’t help a chuckle as he said that not many people did, which was why he always gave a warning look to anyone he even mentioned certain events to. Some were understanding enough not to question him or any of his brothers without such a look like he’d been, but others were beyond pushy about it. It was hard to judge which people were which in that regard, so he tended to err on the side of caution by giving warning looks and being dodgy about it.

Bobby let out a chuckle of his own as he took another sip of his coffee, readily admitting that he didn’t have the slightest inkling of how he felt. He could only say that he knew how his baby sister felt since they were in the same metaphoric boat, but his own siblings’d get how the boys of this family felt. After all, they’d been just old enough to somewhat remember their dad when he’d ran off, whereas he hadn’t even been born yet. They’d at least vague memories of their father and his Love–or at least, what they’d thought was a father’s Love.

Still, that was one of the reasons why–no matter how attracted to her he was–he wasn’t the slightest bit pushy with the tiny woman. He knew that any Secrets she hid from him were Hidden with good reason, and they’d be revealed in her own good Time. Then again, if they were never revealed to him at all, that was fine, too–she no doubt had her reasons for never revealing certain things.

“Not to be presumptive or anything, but I can’t say we’d ever find a better potential brother-in-law and claim to be telling the Truth,” Tony chuckled.

“Pretty much every other guy–less than stellar, to say the least,” Orion agreed.

“If they wanted Aria at all–well, let’s just say such things shouldn’t be said in front of Ma and leave it at that,” the youngest brother said. “That, or they were too busy calling her a freak and making her cry, even when they actually liked her.”

“Yeah, kids’re incredibly mean sometimes.” Bobby rolled his eyes and shook his head. “Then again, adults can be just as cruel–they just don’t tend to be as open about it in a lotta cases.”

“Sounds like you’ve experience with that,” Nico mused.

“Too much, as far as I’m concerned,” the bassist admitted. “I mean, it’s been a struggle to get Poison anywhere but a dive bar ever since I met Bret and Rikki going on eight Years ago.”

“Damn, you’ve been together as a band for that long?” the oldest asked, a bit surprised to hear that.

“Yeah, one of our mutual friends gave them my number the same Day I left my last band before Poison,” he laughed. “We met up at our local Dairy Queen, hit it off, and we’ve been stuck together and duking it out like brothers ever since.”

“So, what madeja wanna come out here to California?” Jonas queried, unable to hide his Curiosity.

“New York was too closeta home, which meant it’d be too easy to get our folksta bail us out, if things didn’t work out the way we wanted them to,” the bassist answered. “Coming out here, so far from home, kinda forced us to work harder to make it big.”

“Well, that’s definitely _one_ way to achieve your Dream, I guess,” the next-to-oldest brother chuckled. “Course, I wouldn’t necessarily say that a single album’s achieving one’s Dream, _per sé.”_

“Oh, trust me, we’re hard at work on the next album already,” Bobby snickered. “Once ya get a taste, the Music’s like a drug and your outlet all rolled into one.”

“Too well I know it,” the youngest brother said. “Never could find anyone I got along with well enough to form a band, which’s why I just build my own custom rigs for fun.”

Laughing, he managed to stomp down his urge to join in on breakfast prep since he loved cooking, instead joining three of the brothers at the table in the breakfast nook. He and Jonas enjoyed talking shop about guitars and basses, each of them comparing their favorites that they’d found so far. Personally, he’d play just about any guitar that got put in his hands, but he was kinda stuck on the _Warlock_ from BC Rich, as far as basses went. If he ever found another he liked just as good or better, he’d prolly make an indefinite switch, but he hadn’t made such a discovery thus far.

As those four guys were talking about pretty much everything but sex, Tony and Aria teamed up with their mother to make breakfast for everybody. Normally, said tiny woman’d just use a step stool or climb on the countersta get into the higher upper cabinets. Since her oldest brother was available–as well as the tallest at seven-four–she let him be the one to take care of that task this Morn.

It wasn’t long before plates were being put in front of folks, coffee mugs being refilled before they all settled in the formal dining room. After all, it was bigger than the breakfast nook, so it’d seat all seven of them without anybody having to sit in someone else’s lap. That, and it’d keep them from having half the group in one area, the other half around the corner in a completely different room, which’d cause them to have to scream at each other to hold a conversation.

“So, I heard thatcha asked Aria on a date?” Jonas grinned at the youngest man in the room.

“She told me the only reasons she’d to refuse last Night was ’cuz of _Samhain_ and her birthday,” Bobby chuckled, nodding. “Fine by me, ’cuz at least heading up here for her birthday party saved me a Night of Insanity.”

“Halloween shindig with your band?” Nico queried curiously.

“Yeah, pretty much.” The bassist nodded again as he sipped his coffee. “They’d have prolly tried to drag me out to the Strip and get me high again.”

“Again?” Tony’s eyes widened in surprise as much as his siblings’ and mother’s did.

“Long story short, I took the drinking too far one Night on tour,” he explained. “Our guitarist, CC, had coke on him. I stupidly let him talk me into trying a bump to wake my ass up after that crazy Night, and lemme tell ya, I’d prolly do things most men wouldn’t Dream of instead of go there again.”

“I’m not even sure I wanna know,” Orion laughed.

“Let’s just say I don’t bat for the same team, but I’d rather switch teams for the Night than get wired on coke again,” Bobby snickered.

All four guys cracked up, Aria giggling up a Storm while their mother simply smiled and shook her head.

“I’m already Energetic enough on my own–I don’t need stimulants worse than cigarettes added to that, so I guess ya could say I learned my lesson,” the bassist said.

“Hey, that’s the good part there,” the oldest brother told him. “Learn from your mistakes, and don’t repeat them unless under extreme circumstances.”

“Hear, hear,” he agreed, mock toasting him since he’d already raised his mug again.

“In all seriousness, though, I’m not gonna deny that I’m curious about what you’d in mind for a date,” the next-to-oldest mused.

“Doesn’t involve any smut unless Aria starts coming on to me, if that’s what you’re wondering,” he chuckled. “I won’t deny that I’d love that kinda turn, but I’m not out to hurt her–that includes physically.”

Even Cali nodded approvingly.

“I know I’d still prolly hurt her a bit, no matter what I do,” Bobby sighed. “But that doesn’t mean I’ve to make it worse by doing something she doesn’t want right off the bat.”

“Better to just let _me_ come to _you,”_ the tiny woman agreed.

Nodding his own agreement, the bassist admitted that he’d his pick of pretty much any woman on the Planet that he might happen to want at any given Time. Being in an up-and-coming band just opened even more doors for him, as it were, so that was usually made a lil easier for him. However, he knew how incredibly lucky he’d be for any woman to pick _him_ for more than just sex in Return, so he wasn’t gonna take his chances on botching something grand and beyond.

It was for that reason that he’d been bouncing ideas around since before he’d even asked Aria on that date. While he was pretty familiar with the Los Angeles area after having lived there for the last few Years, he didn’t really know much about the surrounding Cities and Towns. He was sure he could find something for them to do, even in Santa Clarita, but it’d take him longer to manage.

Since one of his favorite things was heading up the PCH on his Harley, Bobby’d honestly thought about taking her on one of said rides with him. However, he doubted she’d ever been anywhere near a dirt bike, let alone on a full-blown motorcycle like that. That meant she prolly didn’t have a helmet, and while he oft didn’t wear his own, he wasn’t letting her get away with that. If he were to lose Control or she fell off for any other number of reasons, her size meant she’d prolly wind up with at least a concussion a lot easier than most folks. The last thing he wanted wasta go to his grave knowing he’d caused that or worse, which meant getting her a helmet before he took her anywhere near his bike.

Jonas was actually the one to question whether that was a good idea or not, which kinda surprised him since he’d have expected such a thing outta Tony quicker. Luckily, like his front man and drummer, the bassist’d grown up doing a lotta different shit, including tearing up the back country with dirt bikes. He assured them that the only way they were gonna get hurt without Divine intervention was if some other driver did something stupid that he’d to react to. The chances of that happening, though, were slim-to-none, and they commended him for thinking about their sister’s safety first and foremost.

Bobby just hoped that–even if he didn’t prove jack-shit elseta them and Cali–he could prove that his Intentions were good, even if they weren’t always pure.


	5. Five

After everyone’d killed off their breakfast, Bobby’d swiped the Mancinis’ phone book long enough to scour the business pages while the others were cleaning up. He hadn’t been kidding about not knowing the area as well as right around Los Angeles, so he didn’t wanna take any chances with getting lost. No doubt his date’d be able to help him with navigation, but he’d need an address for her to help him get to before they actually took off. But as Luck’d have it, he found exactly what he was looking for after scouring just a couple pages once he’d made it to the _H_ section.

It turned out that there was a Harley dealership all of twenty minutes West of Aria’s house, roughly halfway between I-Five and Highway Fourteen. The next closest one was down in the heart of San Fernando, and he refused to head in that Direction till it was Time to head back home, if he didn’t have to. After all, it wasn’t like money grew on Trees, and he didn’t wanna waste it–not even on extra gas.

With the necessary address in mind, the bassist was a perfect gentleman as he escorted her out to his car. He didn’t care that her mother and brothers followed behind them, no doubt to observe the two of them together as much as get a good look at said car. But he didn’t mind them doing such a thing–he knew they only did that ’cuz Greeks and Italians were both notorious for being close-knit with their families, and they cared about her. Letting them watch as he opened the passenger’s door for her wasn’t really that big a deal to him, especially if it earned him enough brownie pointsta _not_ get his ass kicked by any of her brothers.

Bobby chuckled at the Awed look on his date’s face as she took in the Fire-engine red paint job of his Toyota MR2 T-top. It was the first car he’d ever bought brand-new, let alone with money made from his musical Creations with Poison. He supposed that if there was anything he’d lavish attention on extravagantly that wasn’t another human being, it’d be this car. Then again, a lotta guys were like that, so he doubted he’d be the last to ever have that particular mindset before humanity crashed and burnt.

“She’s definitely a Beauty,” the tiny woman giggled as he settled in the driver’s seat moments later.

“First car I ever bought brand-new,” he chuckled, shoving the right key into the ignition.

“Seriously?” Aria looked even more Awed as she looked up from buckling her seat belt.

“Seriously,” the bassist laughed, buckling his own. “Only other car I bought was the ’78 Chevy that got me out here to California in the first place, and that came from my grama.”

“Not that old when ya bought it, I’m sure,” she mused, a thoughtful look on her face.

“It was about five Years old then,” Bobby admitted as he shifted in his seat so he could stomp the clutch and brake. “So, it wasn’t in _that_ bad of shape–till it’d to survive a cross-country drive from South-Central Penn.”

“Yeah, I think that’d kill just about _any_ car!” the tiny woman laughed. “Even the Probe I just got my hands on a couple weeks ago!”

“Okay, not to be an ass, butcha can actually drive?” he asked, glancing over at her as he paused in turning the key he was still holding.

“Jeez, I might be short, but I’m not _that_ short!” Aria said, shooting him a grin. “It’s a lil harder for me to do without a kid’s booster seat, but I can drive just fine.”

“Well, it’s not like I’ve ever seen ya do it,” the bassist pointed out. “If you’re not already at the studio when the rest of us get there, we beatcha, so we’re already in the building.”

“Fair enough,” she agreed. “We can always take my car so I can prove it since I already know the area better.”

“Normally, I’d balk at that since _I’m_ the one who’s supposed to be taking _you_ out on a date,” Bobby chuckled. “But I’ll admit that I’m too damn curious _not_ to reverse those particular roles for once.”

The tiny woman’s laughter rang out again as she reached down to unbuckle her seat belt since they weren’t gonna be taking his car, after all. Not wanting to tear up what was obviously his baby, she told him to pull around the corner of the garage so none of the bay doors were blocked. At least then, everybody’d still be able to get in and out, even though his keys wouldn’t be there for them to move his car outta their way.

As he was moving said car once she was clear, Aria headed through the door right at the corner of the house. The bassist wasn’t even aware it was there till he’d parked where she’d told him to, but he assumed it led into the garage as he yanked up his E-brake. Another thing he noticed was a staircase leading up to another door diagonally across from it, which he figured he could ask about later.

Seconds later, he heard whatever she was talking about fire up, and he couldn’t help his Curiosity as he wandered back around the corner. Bobby couldn’t help an appreciative whistle as he finally caught sight of the car she’d mentioned, but he was still surprised to actually see her behind the wheel as it backed out into the driveway. Even still, he was liking what he saw as he moved to open the passenger’s door, deciding that he’d give it a real once-over after they got back. From what he could tell just by looking at the body, though, it was pretty similar to his own car in style. He figured it prolly had a lotta the same specs, not to mention a similar, if not identical dash layout, too.

Even as she took care with backing around the ass-End of two of her brothers’ cars without hitting them, the tiny woman couldn’t help filling him in on her own mechanical baby. It turned out that the Ford Probe GT was basically a combination of Ford and Mazda designs, which was why it was so similar to his Toyota. Ford was the one to design most of the body and especially the interior, while Mazda was the company that’d filled in everything under the hood. Somehow, he wasn’t surprised by any of that any more than he wasta find out it also had five on the floor to play with.

“Honestly, it’d prolly be one of my favorites, if I ever got to play around with one,” Bobby admitted. “But I treat pretty much _any_ car like a Corvette.”

“The wilder, the better?” she laughed, aiming her car down the Hill that her driveway ran up.

“Well, _some_ cars’re better when they’re wilder,” the bassist chuckled. “But I meant that if you’ve the gall to _ask_ if ya can drive it, ya prolly don’t deserve to.”

“Well, I can safely say that the answer’d be _no,_ if ya dared,” Aria told him. “I don’t trust just anyone with my mechanical baby, after all.”

“Trust me, I get it, ’cuz I’m the same way with my own car,” he said. “The only way you’re driving it since we haven’t known each other very long is if something happensta me, andja _gotta_ put me in the passenger’s seat before we both get hurt.”

“I can call a truce on those kinda circumstances,” the tiny woman agreed, winding her way through her subdivision before hanging a left onto Sand Canyon Road. “I mean, if my sugar were to drop and it’d be better to take me to the hospital, I wouldn’t care aboutcha driving my car.”

“But any other reasons unless ya actually lemme are outta the question, huh?” Bobby queried with a chuckle.

“The only other exception I’m making is if it’s the only available car and _Bret’s_ about to keel over, now that I know about his diabetes,” she answered with a nod.

The bassist was more than agreeable to that particular truce, as it were, ’cuz both of those were emergency situations. As far as he was concerned, neither of them could afford to be picky about who drove their cars when it came to those kinda scenarios, as long as they at least somewhat trusted the other person. He’d still readily admit that he’d much rather _she_ drive his car as opposed to any of his band mates, but that was only ’cuz they were so wild behind the wheel.

It wasn’t long before their conversation was brought to an End by Aria hanging another left off Soledad Canyon Road onto an access road. That access road took her to one labeled Centre Pointe Parkway, which she quickly hung another left onto once it was safe. From there, she wound her way past a few different schools, at least one religious building, and various businesses.

Once parked in one of the few spaces outside the front door of the dealership they’d been headed to, both got out and made sure to lock their doors. Bobby was quick to gently haul her against his side, well aware of what a sight they made together as they stepped up onto the sidewalk. He was absolutely sure that somebody was bound to mistake them as father and daughter at first, or maybe think he was her older brother instead.

“Good Morn, folks,” the sales associate manning the register said as soon as they walked in. “How can I help ya today?”

“Looking for a helmet for this one,” he answered, grinning as he momentarily squeezed his date tighter before loosening his grip a bit.

“Got your baby sister into bikes already, huh?” said associate–whose name tag read _Ben_ –queried with a chuckle.

“Gods, I _hope_ I’m not his baby sister,” Aria dead-panned, rolling her eyes. “It’d be pretty grossta have the hots for my brother.”

The bassist bit back laughter as the poor guy’s eyes widened almost comically. “Yeah, we’re not actually siblings, but I don’t think either of us’re surprised by the assumption.”

“My apologies,” Ben told them. “I just thought, ’cuz of how short she is…”

“Trust me, I get it all the Time,” the tiny woman said. “That’s one of the reasons I hate having a form of dwarfism, but it could always be worse.”

“I’m not sure if I wanna or even _should_ ask,” the associate admitted. “I mean, I’m sure a helmet’s not your only hang-up in Life due to your size.”

“Yeah, clothes’re a big part of it,” she admitted. “But some kindsa dwarfism coulda made me even shorter than this, so I guess it’s better to be just under the classification for being a midget than not.”

“True enough, I guess,” Ben agreed. “So, what kinda helmet’re ya looking for?”

Having absolutely no experience with this kinda shit, Aria glanced up at her date, unconsciously biting her lip in a nervous tick. The bassist easily ignored how much of a turn-on it wasta him, giving her a reassuring smile as he said there were a few different options. It’d be up to her what kind she Ended up getting, ’cuz that part was mostly based on personal preference since she was a grown woman.

As far as Bobby knew, anyone under the age of eighteen was not only required to wear a helmet, but one that was referred to as _full-faced_. That meant that the helmet completely enclosed the wearer’s head, which offered the best protection against head injuries, should they get into a wreck. He personally preferred what was referred to as _half-helmets,_ which allowed his earsta stay mostly uncovered. It allowed Air to flow better, so his head didn’t wind up nearly as sweaty by the Time he finally took his helmet off when he bothered wearing it in the first place.

Since she didn’t know the difference between the two styles, he and Ben led her over to the helmet section of the store so they could show her. Neither were very surprised when the tiny woman almost instantly vetoed the idea of a full-faced helmet, ’cuz they tended to be the most annoying. The main thing was that whatever she picked out was DOT-compliant, and everything Harley-Davidson sold definitely met that particular requirement.

“I think I’ma have to go with one of those half-helmets y’all were talking about,” Aria said.

“Well, first thing’s first, we’ve to measure your head,” the associate told her.

She cocked a brow curiously, looking almost like she wanted to fight the issue, as if she didn’t like weird folks touching her.

“Gotta know how big your head is so we know what size to getcha,” Bobby chuckled.

“That, and it’ll help us figure out if we’ve any helmets in stock that’ll fitcha, or if we need to custom order one,” he agreed.

“I guess I’m not getting outta this one,” the tiny woman sighed. “But only Bobby’s touching me.”

He shot the other man a look when he acted like he wanted to protest. “I’d like to think I can use a tape measure, and no doubt she’s spent a Lifetime being touched, poked, and prodded by random people, as is.”

“All right, all right,” Ben agreed, throwing his hands up in surrender. “Ya _do_ know how we typically measure for helmets, right?”

“Grew up riding dirt bikes, and I’ve been measured for my own motorcycle helmet before,” the bassist answered, nodding as he took the tape measure he held out to him and knelt down.

Aria grumbled as he pressed one End of the tape measure to the Center of her forehead about an inch above her brows, but held still as he wrapped it around her head.

“I’m seeing twenty-two inches even,” Bobby reported after double- and even triple-checking the Ending measurement.

“Then I’d suggest going with the smaller of the _Smalls_ that we carry, maybe even the _extra-small,”_ the associate said. “Depends on what feels best to her.”

She couldn’t help a curious look as he rolled the tape measure back up, then handed it back to its owner before getting back to his feet. He chuckled as he explained that having a helmet that was a lil on the tight side was a good thing, regardless of one’s overall size. The interior padding’d loosen and form to the shape of her head over Time, so it’d get more comfortable for her, the more she wore it. Getting a slightly tighter helmet now’d keep it from being too loose later on after it was broken in, which’d allow it to serve its purpose better.

Nodding as she let him pull her against his side again, the tiny woman started looking over the half-helmets that were already on display. While she’d a bit of a girlie side to her–which was typical of most women–she wasn’t a _total_ girlie-girl. If she could avoid such a thing, she refused to go with a helmet that’d the slightest hint of pink on it since it just wasn’t _her_.

Luckily, it didn’t take long for Aria to spot a half-helmet that she liked, judging by how her eyes widened once she clapped them on it. Her date couldn’t help a chuckle as he used his height to his advantage so he could reach up and pull down the display version from its lil shelf. With its base Color being a matte black and the Flames licking down the sides, it looked like something he’d pick for himself. In fact, it kinda made him wanna replace his own helmet while he was here, now that he thought about it.

“We actually have her size of that one in stock,” Ben chuckled when she started bouncing excitedly.

“Do me a favor and check for an extra- _large,_ too,” the bassist told him when he turned to apparently head to the stock room.

“Decided to replace your own helmet, too?” he queried on a laugh.

“Hell, why not?” Bobby countered with a laugh of his own. “Damn thing’s a few Years old, and part of the reason I don’t wear it like I should is ’cuz it’s a lil too loose now.”

“Hey, better to get a replacement while you’re already here than not,” the associated told him. “Gimme a few, and I’ll be back.”

“We might wander off to the clothing section while we’re waiting,” he told him. “Far as I know, she’s never been near a bike, so why not see if there’s any leather jackets she likes while we’re at it?”

“Bobby, ya don’t have to do that,” said tiny woman protested.

“I don’t have to, but I wanna,” Bobby retorted as they went their separate ways. “I get the feeling you’re gonna turn out to be a regular ol’ biker bitch.”

Her face turned pink, but she couldn’t help smiling at him.

“Besides, at this Time of Year, it’s gonna get chilly while we’re out,” the bassist continued. “Even I wouldn’t go out without my leathers right now, so I wouldn’t expect _you_ to, either.”

Over in the womens’ section, he couldn’t help a laugh as he almost had to quite literally put his date on a leash. Almost like an actual kid, her eye seemed to be caught by just about everything in sight, and he knew he’d go broke, if he didn’t watch it. That didn’t mean that he didn’t wanna spoil her a lil bit, whether they were officially together or not–he just couldn’t do it all in one fell swoop.

By the Time Ben managed to track them down with the helmets in their requested sizes, Aria’d pretty much put together an entire outfit. She’d found not only a fringed leather jacket that she liked, but matching chapsta go with it for any cooler Days he took her out on a ride with him. In addition to that, she’d found herself a new pair of jeans, a tank-top that not only screamed _biker bitch,_ but tied in with Poison in a way, and a couple other lil odds and Ends. And as if that wasn’t enough, she even found a pair of riding boots she practically fell in Love with, especially once she found them in her size.

There was a part of Bobby that was glad that sales associate reappeared when he did, ’cuz trying on those helmets made for the perfect distraction. He knew that unless they moved on to the mens’ section for himself, he’d be broke by the Time they managed to get outta here. If he wasn’t broke in a financial sense, he’d prolly be broke in a physical sense from carrying God-only-knew how many bags out to her car.

Just like they’d suspected, the extra-small helmet was a bit on the tight side, but it was a better fit on the tiny woman’s head. She didn’t bother with griping about that slight tightness, ’cuz both guys assured her that it’d loosen up over Time once again. Even if she didn’t believe Ben when he said so, she was willing to trust her date on that particular topic. If he’d really grown up riding dirt bikes and had been a true biker for several Years now, he’d no doubt know what he was talking about. Gods only knew it’d be a pretty sad Day, if he woke up and _didn’t_ know what he was talking about, if he really was as experienced as he said he was.

“All right, now that we know even _my_ new helmet fits, let’s get outta here,” he chuckled.

“What–scared of making a detour into the mens’ section?” Aria snickered, clearly goading him.

“Only for my screaming wallet and possibly my back,” the bassist retorted with a good-Natured laugh. “’Cuz I’ma wind up broke one way or another, if we don’t get outta here soon.”

“Hey, I don’t mind paying for my own shit,” she told him.

“Not gonna happen unless it’s stuff like the gloves and watch ya picked out, sweetheart,” Bobby said, not even noticing the pet name. “That’s just not how my mama raised me to behave when I take a girl out on a date.”

“It’s not a date till there’s food involved,” the tiny woman giggled.

“Who said I wasn’t gonna take ya out for lunch or dinner before it was all over?” he queried with a grin.

Aria quite literally paused in Thought, forcing him to pause and turn back to face her.

“See, my point exactly,” the bassist chuckled. “Course, if we detour into the mens’ section, heading back to your houseta off-load first wouldn’t be a bad idea.”

“Sounds like a plan to me,” she agreed. “’Cuz somehow, I get the feeling a new helmet ain’t the only thing ya could stand to walk outta here with.”

Bobby couldn’t help a laugh as he Cursed himself and the big mouth he apparently had, knowing damn good and well she was gonna hold him to that now. Then again, she’d hit the nail on the head, so to speak, with her final comment before snagging his belt loop and dragging him off. His favorite riding boots and chaps were both worn out to the point of falling apart, so replacing at least those’d prolly be a good idea.

Upon finally making it up to the register to check out, he’d wound up with a new full riding outfit of his own. Pretty much everything that the tiny woman’d picked out for herself’d been repeated with the second set, but it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. It’d allow him to ride during pretty much any Season, any particular style be damned, and that was the thing that mattered.

Heaving a sigh as he waited for Aria to pop her trunk, the bassist was more than a lil relieved to get the hell outta there. Unsurprisingly, his bank account was about twenty-four hundred bucks lighter than it’d been when he woke up that Morn, and that was _without_ paying for their various accessories. Course, the only reason he hadn’t spent more than what he did was ’cuz she’d insisted on paying for those things with her own money. She insisted that while the clothing, boots, and helmet was his gift to her, he oughta consider the accessories she paid for for him to be _her_ gift to _him_. At least it’d make him feel a lil better about letting her spend even _eight_ hundred bucks while on their date.

On the trip back to the Mancinis’ house, they talked about exactly _when_ they oughta head out on that ride he’d been talking about. Bobby laughed when he admitted that his birthday was actually the following Day, which made her shoot him a surprised look when they got caught by a stoplight. That didn’t stop him from suggesting that he head back home after they went out for lunch so they could head out on that ride in the Morn. It could be a birthday ride for him, not to mention a bit of a late birthday present for her since he hadn’t been given enough Time to get her anything before hers came up.

The tiny woman seemed excited by the prospect, but there was also no hiding the Anxiety such a Thought caused her. Gently cupping her cheek after she’d parked in her garage again, he reassured her that he wasn’t gonna let anything happen to her while they were out. And even if anything _did_ happen to her, chances were that he’d be in just as dire of straits as she’d wind up in. Whether that meant they were both laid up in the hospital or dead as a door nail was up for debate, but he knew she got what he meant. Luckily, she didn’t try to back outta their plan at the last second, which almost made him wanna kiss her before they climbed outta her car to grab their purchases.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's a link to pictures of Bobby's and Aria's cars. Yes, this first one's _actually_ of Bobby sitting on top of an old car of his–it's from the inner liner of _Open Up and Say...Ahh!,_ which I happen to know since I'm the one who took this pic of a pic to send to the _friend_ who runs this fan page. I'd read somewhere that Bobby'd once owned an '87 MR2, and Googling it matched up with the car in the pic.
> 
> The second pic's of one of the older versions of a couple different cars my Birth Creature had when I was a kid. One model was when I was too young to remember it, but I remember the '96 Ford Probe GT she had when I was about 15 very clearly, and it Inspired me a bit.
> 
> I'll include linksta the outfits they put together toward the End of the chapter in the next one. I've been up for 12+ hours now, and after losing a lotta writing Time to doing the _research_ in the first place with still more to do, I don't feel like fighting my browser history so I can dig up those links right now–besides, I'll go into more detail in the next chapter, if I've any sense left. LOL!  
> ~Firefly
> 
> Link to Bobby and his Car–https://www.facebook.com/BobbyDallfans/photos/pcb.2371470826232007/2371470339565389
> 
> Link to Aria's Car–https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Fcarphotos.cardomain.com%2Fimages%2F0016%2F83%2F87%2F16313878_large.jpg&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cardomain.com%2Fride%2F4049302%2F1988-ford-probe%2F&tbnid=qp8KMMiLnmj3TM&vet=10CAsQxiAoBmoXChMI0ITj8bWm7gIVAAAAAB0AAAAAEAI..i&docid=mLMZMOmu2DSxGM&w=750&h=500&itg=1&q=1988%20ford%20probe&hl=en&ved=0CAsQxiAoBmoXChMI0ITj8bWm7gIVAAAAAB0AAAAAEAI


	6. Six

Early the next Morn, Aria was already up and ready to head out before even her mother rose for the Morn. Despite her Anxiety about actually doing it, she was too excited to head out on the back of Bobby’s bike to get much sleep. That didn’t stop the sleep she _did_ get from being restful, but it certainly wasn’t the typical eight hours a Night she normally got. Course, she supposed that taking care of certain urges before she actually went to bed helped with that, but she put that part deep in the back of her mind.

All four of her brothers, their significant others, and all their collective kids’d also come over to the house she shared with Cali full-Time. They’d all made no bones about wanting to see the bike she was gonna be taking off on today with their own eyes before heading home the Night previous. Not only that, but they wanted to see how its Primary rider handled it as he rolled up in the driveway.

The group soon heard a distant rumble, but considering that they didn’t live very far from Santa Clarita, they started not to pay it much mind. Hearing that rumble grow increasingly louder made all of the family step out front, which made them realize that that rumble sounded like it was coming down either Sultus Street or Triumph Avenue. Moments later, that rumble became more of a purr as it obviously started down Diver Street, and the tiny woman’s face lit up.

Only seconds passed before that purr finally turned into a roar down at the corner of Diver and the street she lived on, which was Brooken Avenue. That roar died away a bit as it reached the corner of her street and Radclay Street, which was where her driveway actually started. It was pretty obvious now that the source of those noises was a motor, which settled down almost to an idle as it approached the corner of the driveway that led up the Hill to their garage. Seeing past the Trees right at the top of the Hill that the driveway ran up was impossible, but they all heard that motor rev up a bit as it started up said Hill. Course, Aria’s eyes still lit up as the exact source finally made it into view, and she couldn’t be stopped from darting down to the edge of the driveway with a squeal.

Bobby was wearing a grin of his own as he rode up perpendicular to the garage doors, then seemed to lean sideways for a moment. His bike leaned as he did so that he glided around the edge of the driveway where it connected to the front sidewalk, then straightened as he did. With his bike facing the Direction he needed it to, he planted his boots on the concrete since they’d already been hanging just above it, at the ready to catch him before he toppled over. As one foot momentarily tucked closer to his bike, the racket it was making died away entirely, and moments later, he was letting it lean over on the kickstand he’d obviously moved to kick out.

“Bobby!” the tiny woman squealed, bouncing in place as he threw his right leg over the machine he’d been settled on.

“Glad to see I didn’t wake anyone but the neighbors up,” he laughed, reaching under his chin as he found his balance once on his feet.

“Too excited to sleep!” Aria told him as she continued her bouncing. “It was all I could do not to wake Mama up so she could French braid my hair for me!”

“Clearly, she’s pretty excited,” Jonas chuckled, watching as he pulled his new helmet off so he could buckle its strap back together, then hang it from his handlebar. “I’ll admit that I’m still nervous about letting her take off on this thing, though.”

“I’d offer to take ya around to block to prove that I’m not an idiot on it, but that wouldn’t be smart,” the bassist chuckled.

“Why not?” Tony queried as he leaned down to hug their sister before passing out _bro-hugsta_ him and his brothers before hugging their mother, too.

“It’d throw off the balance,” he answered. “You’re all so much taller and no doubt heavier than me that I wouldn’t be able to keep my bike upright.”

“Ah, that makes sense.” Nico nodded his understanding. “If ya couldn’t hold it up, you’d wind up dropping it on yourself and whoever was with ya.”

“Exactly, and lemme tell ya, a hot motor on your leg–even through denim and leather–doesn’t feel good,” Bobby chuckled. “It’s worse, if the bike’s heavy, ’cuz you’ve that much more weight pressing down on said leg.”

“I’m guessing you’ve done that a few Times?” Orion asked curiously.

“Used to drop my dirt bike on myself all the Time till I got the hang of it,” the bassist laughed. “And lemme tell ya, I’m glad Bret and Rikki made me wear jeans, at the least, too.”

“Ready to _goooo!”_ Aria veritably whined, still practically vibrating with her excitement.

“Well, gimme a few minutesta stretch,” he chuckled. “That, and let my head breathe before I wind up with a headache, not to mention swing a potty break.”

“Yeah, that’d prolly be a good idea,” the oldest of the brothers agreed.

Letting out another laugh as the entire family migrated inside–during which Time he was introduced to the other women and all the kids–he told him that he didn’t have any idea how good that’d be. It’d been a forty-five minute ride from the Los Angeles area, and even though he’d gone to the bathroom before leaving his house, all that vibration rattled him in a few different ways. He also explained how he’d just replaced his helmet the Day previous, so it wasn’t anywhere near broken in yet. That’d the potential to give him a headache till that happened, which was why he’d pulled it off upon parking.

After emerging from the powder room just inside the front door, Bobby joined the rest of the group in the formal living room. The first thing he did was kneel down in front of his date so he could actually see what he was doing, one hand snagging her helmet off the coffee table. She cocked a brow at him just like her family, which made him chuckle as he unbuckled the chin strap.

Settling it on her head, he said it was a good idea to make sure said strap was tight enough to keep it on her head without being uncomfortable _before_ she even mounted up. He didn’t want it falling off any more than her family did while they were in motion, and he couldn’t have her wiggling around to attempt tightening it unless they were up to speed. That made him give her a stern look as he worked on tightening that strap once it was buckled as he said that actually brought to mind something else.

Having never been anywhere near a dirt bike, let alone a motorcycle in any capacity, Aria didn’t know the slightest thing about riding one. The bassist said that she needed a bit of a crash-course in riding etiquette when it came to being his passenger, or she might accidentally do something she shouldn’t. If she were to do something she shouldn’t, it could very well cause him to wreck, and he didn’t want that to happen, no matter _who_ was riding bitch with him. But God only knew that if something happened to her while on his watch, he’d turn into an even bigger drunk, ’cuz he wouldn’t be able to live, knowing that he’d seriously hurt or actually killed her.

“The main thing’s that once you’re on, ya stay still unless we’re at a dead stop or up to speed on a straight stretch,” Bobby told her.

“Why’s that, though?” the tiny woman queried.

“’Cuz if ya get to wiggling around in the middle of a curve, or when I’m slowing down to stop or taking off, it could throw off my balance,” he answered, managing to wiggle two fingers between her chin and helmet strap.

“And just like if ya tried having a passenger bigger than you, that’d make ya lose Control,” Tony mused, his eyes widening in an _Ah, ha!_ moment.

“Bingo.” The bassist nodded as he let her take her helmet back off for the moment and rose back to his full height. “The last thing I wanna do is lose Control ’cuz she started wiggling around when she shouldn’t have.”

“So, that’s pretty much it as far as safety goes?” the next-to-oldest queried, still looking uncertain.

“Pretty much, as far as her End goes,” Bobby answered. “I’m the one that’s gonna be in Control of shit like the throttle, clutch, and brake, so she really ain’t gotta do much other than sit still unless we’re stopped or up to speed on a straight stretch.”

“What about holding on, though?” Orion asked.

“That’s up to her,” he told them. “She can wrap her arms around my waist, if they’re long enough, or she can just wrap a couple fingers through my belt loops. Once we’re up to speed, she doesn’t have to hold on at all, if she doesn’t wanna, but that’s her choice.”

All of the brothers looked thoughtful, but it was Cali’s worried look that made him chuckle.

“Do I need to take _you_ on a quick lap or two around the block?” the bassist queried. “’Cuz that’s not outside the Realm of Possibility, if need be.”

“I, uh…” She seemed surprised that he’d make such an offer, which just made him laugh again.

“Ya don’t have to, if ya don’t wanna,” Bobby assured her. “Just figured that if ya got a taste of it at a low speed, it’d make ya feel a lil better about letting your daughter mount up.”

“Well, I don’t see why not,” the family matriarch agreed.

Turning to head back out front, he said that they didn’t really need helmets, as long as they stayed within their neighborhood. He wouldn’t really have Time to get up to much faster than twenty-five or thirty miles an hour, so they wouldn’t be going very fast. Since it was so early in the Morn, the amount of traffic in their subdivision was pretty much nil, so he wasn’t worried about the possibility of a collision with another vehicle.

Out at his bike, the bassist made her wait long enough for him to hand off his own helmet to Aria, then move to straddle it again. After he’d pulled it up straight and kicked in its kickstand, he twisted something atop what was obviously the gas tank, which allowed him to straighten his front tire. Glancing at Cali as he used his thumb to press a certain button almost like a Light switch he was flipping, he asked her if she’d ever ridden a Horse before. Luckily for him, her eyes lit up as she told him that she’d grown up riding Horses, which made explaining this part easier.

Making sure his bike stayed steady, Bobby told her to think of his shoulder like the saddle horn she’d normally grab, the foot peg kinda like a stirrup. That was all he needed to tell her for her to get what he was hinting at, ’cuz mounting a motorcycle as a passenger wasn’t much different from how one’d mount a Horse.

“Whenever you’re ready,” he told her, nodding.

Returning the nod, Cali gripped his left shoulder and settled her corresponding foot on the peg he’d indicated. _“Oof!”_

“Been a while since you’d to make a similar motion, huh?” the bassist chuckled, still keeping the bike steady as she got settled.

“A month or two since I’ve been so busy,” she answered on a laugh.

“You’re not that much outta practice, then,” Bobby said. “And bikes’re obviously lower than Horses, too.”

“Yeah, that’s definitely true,” the family matriarch agreed.

“All right, same rules as a passenger apply to you, too,” he told her once she was settled with her fingers wrapped through the belt loops on the back sides of his hips. “No wiggling or squirming unless we’re at a dead stop or up to speed, and lean with me when I lean.”

“Sounds easy enough,” Cali mused since she knew he wouldn’t be able to see her nod.

“Then we’re ready for that lap around the block,” the bassist chuckled, moving his right thumb slightly.

“Oh!” She couldn’t help a gasp as the machine beneath them suddenly roared to Life, which made even the rest of the group jump.

Laughing as he revved it a couple Times, Bobby soon let it settle down to an idle since it was still relatively warm from his ride up here. He raised his voice so she’d actually hear him when he made damn sure she was ready, causing her to do the same as she gave a positive response. Only then did he raise his left foot onto its footboard, his left hand gripping a lever on his handlebars as said foot pulled up slightly.

Everyone else heard the bike click a couple Times, which told them he was putting it into the correct gear so he could take off. And take off, he most certainly did as he loosened the grip of that hand slightly at the same Time as he twisted his other hand. His right foot still hovered just above the ground as he guided the machine down the Hill toward the bottom half of their driveway.

Cali made sure her fists stayed clenched tight so she wouldn’t lose her grip on his belt loops, but she was surprised by how smooth the ride was so far. Even the momentary stop right at her open gate so he could check for any traffic before hitting the actual street was relatively smooth. But taking off so that they were headed up Brooken really proved what a smooth ride one could have, whether they were the one in Control of a bike or riding bitch. Not even having to lean slightly at the corner of Brooken and Diver so they could continue up the former was all that bad, even though it definitely made her feel just a hair off-balance for a moment.

Once they’d looped around the block made up by Brooken, Diver, Triumph, and Sultus, the pair found themselves back at the corner of Brooken and Diver. The bassist paused long enough to make sure nothing was coming before cutting a left back toward the Mancinis’ house. He could easily feel the additional weight behind him that hadn’t been there on his ride up North, but it wasn’t that bad. It was easy enough to compensate for, as experienced a rider as he was, and it didn’t bother him. Shit, he’d worse passengers than this ride bitch with him before, especially while drunk, so this was nothing.

Back in the family’s driveway, he slowed to make that last corner before starting up the Hill to their garage again. It was just as he got to the slight curve at the top of the driveway that he felt a sudden movement, which made his eyes widen behind his sunglasses. He was more than a lil glad that his feet’d been hovering just above the ground again as he felt his bike start to tip sideways. Were they up on their footboards, or were he a physically weaker man, he wouldn’t have been able to save it before he wound up dumping it. Thankfully, he _was_ able to regain his balance and save it, which kept them from winding up with so much as a scraped ankle from the fall that otherwise woulda happened making the hem of their jeans ride up.

“Now, ya see why I toldja _not_ to do that, don’tcha?” Bobby queried, unable to help his stern tone as he killed his bike.

“Sweet Goddess, yes!” the family matriarch yelped, not daring to move again.

“Be glad we were practically at a crawl and I’d Time to save it,” he dead-panned, nodding once he was balanced enough for her to dismount. “If we’d been at a high speed around a curve or something, I’d have dumped it, for sure.”

“So, as long as Aria doesn’t do _that,_ she’ll be fine is what you’re saying?” Jonas chuckled, an arm wrapped around his girlfriend and his other hand resting on said sister’s shoulder.

“That’s exactly what I’m saying,” the bassist answered with another nod as he dismounted again, himself.

“I think that’s easy enough to manage,” said tiny woman giggled. “I don’t wanna get hurt any more than I wanna ruin these brand-new clothes.”

Bobby couldn’t help a laugh as he moved next to the garage, where he braced his hands and feet so he could twist enough to crack his back. “I don’t either, as much as I forked out for them.”

“Wait, really?” Orion’s jaw dropped slightly.

“Let’s just say my bank account’s _still_ moaning in pain this Morn,” he told him. “Harley-Davidson’s an expensive brand, whether we’re talking about the actual bike or any accessories.”

“I was kinda wondering where our sister got what she’s wearing since she’s never done anything like this before,” Tony chuckled.

“Figured it was a good idea to check out the leather jackets when I took her to actually get a helmet yesterday.” The bassist shrugged once he’d straightened and turned back to face them. “That kinda snowballed on me, and I only let her get away with buying some of the cheaper things ’cuz she’s just as stubborn as I am.”

Aria couldn’t help a mischievous grin as she giggled and nodded.

“I’d rather not fight with her, whether she’s my bass tech, my girlfriend, or both, so I decided to just pick my battle wisely,” Bobby chuckled. “But now, she’s something to wear for a ride in just about any Season, as long as she likes this one enough to go on another one with me.”

“I’m kinda curious about the design on her shirt, though,” Nico admitted.

Grinning, he wouldn’t give him a straight answer, but he _did_ say that he considered it to tie back to his band–and therefore himself–in a way. Since the tiny woman hadn’t heard what he was talking about yet, he didn’t wanna give it away, which was why he wouldn’t give a better answer than that. He just said they’d get exactly what he meant soon enough, and they could tell they shouldn’t push his buttons.

Once they’d both taken a quick bathroom break to make damn sure they didn’t have to go, the bassist headed back outside and settled on his bike once again. Aria waited next to it as she got her helmet on, watching as he got his own strapped on since they were going a far longer distance than what he’d taken Cali on. When he nodded to signify that he was ready, she Returned the nod and moved to mimic her mother’s motions as well as she could. She’d to reach up a bit more to actually grab his shoulder, but she was pretty sure he actually tried to slouch to make it a bit easier for her.

With the tiny woman mostly settled once she’d dropped her weight down onto the seat, Bobby thumbed the _Start_ button on the right side of his handlebars again. His bike roared to Life as she wiggled a bit till she was comfortable, and he could already feel the slight tugging of her wrapping her fingers through his belt loops. Somehow, he got the feeling that that wouldn’t last long before she let go in favor of simply resting her hands on her thighs or knees.

It was but a few moments before the tiny woman was settled and ready to take off, which she signified by gently head-butting his back. He couldn’t help a laugh as he took her hint and raised his foot to put the machine in gear again, then took off just as gently as he’d done while her mother was behind him. There was no doubting that she turned just enough to wave to her family as they headed down the Hill of her driveway, judging by what he felt behind him. Even still, he paid strict attention to what he was doing as he came up to their gate, where he paused again for a quick traffic check. Assured that nothing was coming, he took off so he could finally get outta their neighborhood for their ride.

The bassist just hoped that she turned out to like this, even if it wasn’t something they did all the Time, as he weaved his way through those residential streets.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I didn't go into as much detail about their clothing as I'd Intended to, but there's still pics attached to the Wattpad posting of this chapter. There's also a pic of Bobby on what looks like a Harley-Davidson Heritage Softail, so just assume that's the kinda bike he's got in this story like I am.  
> ~Firefly


	7. Seven

Following a quick pit stop at the nearest gas station to top off his tank, Bobby’d gotten on the quickest route that led out to the City of Ventura. About halfway between that City and the Town of Mussel Shoals, the PCH branched off the One-oh-One in Faria Beach. He said it was about an hour and a-half from the Mancinis’ house, so he and his date both needed to be damn sure they didn’t need anything before he took off again.

Aria’d assured him that she was more than good to go, ’cuz while her bladder might be smaller than his, it wasn’t _that_ small. She’d already eaten just to be damn sure her sugar wouldn’t plummet while they were going down the road, even though she hadn’t actually been hungry. Given that all her needs were taken care of and so were his own, the bassist’d nodded as he screwed his gas cap back on.

Judging by the squeal he heard as he pulled outta that gas station’s parking lot shortly thereafter, he knew the tiny woman behind him was enjoying their ride thus far. Course, he knew she’d enjoy it even more once they actually reached the Coast, but there was nothing wrong with a ride through the Mountains, too. What she’d _really_ enjoy was where he planned on taking her, if only ’cuz of the place’s name–well, he was pretty sure she would. If he’d done his homework right when he took a trip to the library the Day before yesterday, he didn’t see why she _wouldn’t_ enjoy where he was taking her just for the place’s name, alone.

Once he’d merged onto the PCH, Bobby merely relaxed as he guided his bike down the highway that was as infamous as the Sunset Strip. In some places, they were all but riding through the breaking Waves of the Pacific itself, which was one of the reasons he liked riding through here. But to keep their ride back to either of their houses from being _too_ long, the place he’d chosen was only about twenty minutes from that highway split. It was one of his favorite places aside from the Beaches of South Florida near where he grew up, which he obviously wasn’t gonna get to anytime soon.

Just over the Cliff’s edge from the small area where folks could park campers and the restrooms at the far End of the parking lot was the actual spot he Intended to take her to. It was still a part of what was known as Summerland Beach, which was the part he was banking on her loving more than anything. And sure enough, Aria’s eyes widened in pleasant surprise when he told her the name of this particular Beach. That surprise still couldn’t mask her excitement about the Thought of getting to go to the Beach, which made him chuckle as he settled his bike on its kickstand. He took that to mean that–due to where she’d grown up and later moved to–she’d never actually been to such a place before, so this was gonna be yet another new experience for her.

“I guess that if anything bums me out, it’s not being able to get in the Ocean,” she sighed. “Not like I brought my bathing suit–or wore it under the rest of my clothes–since I didn’t know where ya were bringing me.”

“Think again, sweetheart,” the bassist chuckled, grinning mischievously.

His date simply cocked a brow at him as he flipped through his keys, then knelt down to grab the padlock on one of what he called a saddle bag.

“Call it taking a liberty, if ya wanna, _buuuut…”_ Bobby was still grinning as he pulled something outta his saddle bag, which he then handed to her.

The tiny woman opened the plastic shopping bag she’d been handed, her eyes widening as she took in its contents. “Bobby!”

“What can I say? I’m more observant than I look,” he chuckled.

“Seriously, ’cuz this is the exact size I normally wear!” Aria told him, double-checking the tag.

“And this is why I chose this End of the parking lot,” the bassist said, pulling something else outta his saddle bag before closing it.

Part of her was surprised when he draped a pair of swimming trunks over his arm, but another part of her wasn’t. Still, she followed behind him as he headed off toward the lil building just feet away, a pair of flip-flops in his other hand. All she really cared about was getting changed so they could head down to the Sand, and therefore the Water that lapped at it.

In her new bathing suit, the tiny woman couldn’t help but give herself as much of a once-over as she could without a mirror. She decided that she looked good enough, even though she was pretty skinny, despite how short she was. That was what made her finally step out, the pair of flip-flops he’d also bought for her on her feet to keep them from getting burnt. But as she took in the man she was with, she got a bit of reassurance she hadn’t been expecting since she’d never seen him so much as shirtless before.

Bobby was a lot skinnier than she’d thought he was at first, almost to the point that one could count his ribs, if they wanted to. It looked like he was in the process of getting more meat on his bones, though, so she wasn’t quite as concerned as she normally woulda been. Rather than being worried about his Health, she allowed it to make her feel a lil better about her own size since nothing she’d tried had put more meat on her own bones.

Once their riding clothes–even their boots–were stuffed down into his saddle bags and they’d been locked again, the bassist let her grab his elbow. He’d a pair of towels tucked under his other arm, which he kept against his side as he led her down the sidewalk toward the Beach path. It was a bit of a walk, but he didn’t mind such a thing as they finally made it to said path, as long as she didn’t. Thankfully, the path wasn’t nearly as long as the parking lot, so it wasn’t long before they finally got to the Sand. It was then that he cut a left, which allowed him to lead her down the Sand to the area he loved just beneath a Cliff so they couldn’t be seen from the houses that sat atop it.

“This is one of my favorite spots,” the bassist chuckled, handing her one of the towels.

“Oh, really?” Aria couldn’t help a giggle as she got hers spread out.

“Well, aside from the Beaches near where I grew up, that is,” he laughed. “Nothing’s ever gonna beat the Beaches of South Florida, as far as I’m concerned.”

“Yeah, I don’t think we’ll be getting out there anytime soon,” the tiny woman mused.

“Not on my bike, that is,” Bobby told her. “And while I damn well _could_ get us a flight out to Miami, who says you’d actually wanna go near a plane right now?”

“Fair enough.” She nodded as she settled on her towel. “’Cuz I’ve never flown anywhere–at least, not that I remember.”

“I’m guessing your family flew out here when ya were a baby or something?” the bassist queried.

“No, more like I was still in utero,” Aria laughed. “We drove out here when we moved from Tenn, which’s why I don’t remember that one flight I’ve technically been on.”

He couldn’t help his Curiosity as he cocked his brow at her.

“Mama flew over from Italy when she found out there was something wrong with me that’d need better medical care than she could get over there,” the tiny woman explained. “By the Time she found out for sure that I was blighted, she’d hit some kinda cut-off point that kept her from going back.”

“And after that, she just decided to stay here?” Bobby asked.

“Yeah, ’cuz other than my brothers, it’s not like she’d much to go _back_ to and for.” She nodded as she sighed sadly. “Tony was twenty, so he’d temporary guardianship of the others. When she decided not to go back to Italy, he packed up Nico, Orion, and Jonas so he could bring ’em over here, instead.”

The bassist nodded his Understanding, easily figuring out that once they’d all gotten over to the East Coast, they’d gone through the process of becoming American citizens. By being born in this country, Aria’d automatically been one, which made the rest of her family’s naturalization go that much quicker. Once they’d all been naturalized, they’d moved to whatever part of Tennessee she’d apparently grown up in, where they’d settled till they came out West.

Able to tell that she didn’t really wanna talk about it anymore, he simply wrapped her in a loose hug, rather than trying to question her about it. He Intended to stick to his word about not prying, no matter how curious he got–and besides, it seemed like she could use a hug. And he was apparently right, judging by how she snuggled against his chest and all but held on to his waist for dear Life.

Sighing as she rested her head on that wall of flesh and muscle, Aria took Comfort in not only the sensation of his flesh against hers, but the Sound of his heartbeat. It wasn’t quite as audible as it woulda been, if they’d been stretched out so she could lay her head higher on his chest, but she could hear it well enough. With the Sound of the breaking Waves in her other ear, she was all but lulled to sleep, anywhore–till he chuckled and gently tickled her. That was what made her jerk back slightly with a squeal as she swatted at his handsta make him stop like most other women woulda.

“Bobby, quit it!” the tiny woman squealed.

“You’re cute when you’re squealing, though,” Bobby laughed, waiting till she wasn’t expecting it to give her ribs a sneak attack.

_“Bobby!”_ She couldn’t help flailing in his arms as she tried to get away. “Stop it before I piss myself!”

“Now, we can’t be having that,” the bassist chuckled, deciding to cease and desist. “You’re a big girl, not a lil one.”

“Damn straight,” Aria panted, quick to catch her breath. “Besides, I wasn’t kidding about wanting to go in the Ocean!”

“Then c’mon,” he told her, pushing himself up so he could reach back down to her. “If ya can’t swim, just hang on to me.”

“I can swim, but not very well,” the tiny woman admitted, her face turning pink.

“I practically grew up in the Ocean,” Bobby chuckled. “If I wasn’t digging up souvenirs on the Beach or digging Clams for work as a teenager, I was swimming like my Life depended on it.”

Taking care to keep her at least within arm’s reach, he led her down to the Water’s edge, knowing it was gonna be a bit chilly at first. He couldn’t help a laugh as she squealed when the Water hit her toes, grinning as he told her that there was still Time to Change her mind. Not even he liked overly chilly Water, but this wasn’t too bad compared to some Water he’d swam in, especially during the Spring back in Penn.

Aria was her typical stubborn Self and refused to back down, all but dragging him in by the waistband of his shorts. The bassist laughed as he let her do so, quick to tell her that if she started getting cold, she needed to let him know. Considering how skinny she was, he didn’t want her winding up hypothermic just to prove a point since that wasn’t healthy for her.

Nodding as she stayed as closeta him as she could manage without sharing a body, the tiny woman slowly waded out further. She cracked up when he let out a yelp as a breaking Wave managed to reach his hips, which earned her a slightly dirty look as he shivered. Bobby rolled his eyes as he said that it wasn’t exactly pleasant to take a sudden chill to his crotch, but he was quick to recover from it. It was shortly thereafter that he ducked beneath the Surface, his hand gripping hers so he wouldn’t lose her, and their Day of fun and Sun truly Began.


	8. Eight

Since he’d technically skipped out on the guys in favor of enjoying his birthday, Bobby’d suggested just heading back to his house once they left Summerland Beach. After all, they were technically supposed to be in the studio today, so he knew they were gonna have to go in tomorrow, if they didn’t wanna hear _too_ much of Bret’s mouth. Given how much closer his house wasta the studio they were recording in this Time around–at least, compared to the Mancinis’ house–he felt it better to just head back there.

Luckily for him, Aria hadn’t been willing to argue after finding out he lived less than twenty minutes from Conway Recording Studios. It was roughly half the drive she’d have to make from her own house, if he took her back home, or if they’d headed back there for the Night before setting out in the Morn. A phone call to her mother’d suffice for letting her know she was still alive, and she damn well knew it.

Pulling up outside what almost reminded her of a Mediterranean home due to its exterior Color scheme, she was almost immediately impressed. She’d expected the houseta be bigger than what it appeared as he planted his boots on the ground and held his bike steady, but she’d clearly been mistaken. Just ’cuz he was a rock star–if only a relatively new one–didn’t mean he wanted anything huge and flashy to call home. Maybe he really _was_ more of a hipster like Vicki’d claimed, and one who preferred simpler things in Life than most rock stars did. It’d certainly explain having what looked like a house half the size of her own or smaller, depending on its total square footage.

After she’d climbed off and was standing next to him, the bassist reached into the pocket of his jacket-turned-vest. The double garage door whirred into motion once he pressed the button, slowly rising to reveal the ass-End of his car as he killed his bike. Once it’d risen so it was completely open, he let out a grunt as he walked said machine forward till it was where he normally kept it. He then kicked out the kickstand before allowing it to tilt sideways till its weight was supported by the lone Metal bar.

“It’s not nearly as big as your house, but it’s enough for my needs and liking,” Bobby chuckled, careful about swinging his leg over so he wouldn’t kick his date or his car.

“I thought it looked a lot smaller than my house,” the tiny woman giggled, waiting for him to unlock his saddle bags.

“Three beds, two and a-half baths,” he told her. “All I really need is my own bedroom, one for any of the guysta crash in when they get to fighting with their girls, and one to use as a Music studio.”

“Well, if you’re single and childless, I don’t suppose ya really have a reason to have more than that,” Aria mused.

“Only if either of my siblings or my own mom comes out West for a visit,” the bassist said. “And if that happens, they get preferential treatment by getting the guest room and I make the guys sack out on the couch, if they show up.”

“Hey, it’s your house, and therefore your rules,” she laughed.

“Well, c’mon in, and we’ll head to the kitchen so we can eat,” Bobby told her. “’Cuz I dunno about you, but I’m starving.”

“Eh, I toldja that I pretty much have to force myself to eat,” the tiny woman reminded him as he led her into the mud room once he’d set the garage door to close.

In said mud room, he hung his keys on the hook over the Light switch that was right next to the door they’d just walked through. As he made to kick his boots off so they could go under the lil table that he’d put under the cabinets next to them, he offered to hang her keys with his. He figured that if they were together, they wouldn’t get lost–and if they did, they’d both be shit-outta-Luck since his’d be gone, too.

Aria was quick to agree since his house was unfamiliar to her, which meant she’d prolly be more prone to forgetting where she’d put them. She knew she’d either need to ask him to retrieve them for her or use a step stool to get them herself, but that was a small matter. Just knowing they’d be safe and easily-found later was a more important matter to her, and apparently her date, as well.

The mud room opened into a hallway, and as she stepped into it behind him, she could already see his Music room at the End of the hall that branched off to the right. Glancing in that Direction revealed what she assumed was the guest room, judging by how she saw the foot of a bed. Since the room seemed pretty small based on that one quick glance, she doubted it was the master suite. However, she didn’t exactly have Time to think about it as she followed him down the hall that branched off to the left from the mud room’s door.

_“Ooh,_ me likey,” the tiny woman breathed as she followed him into his kitchen.

“Again, not nearly as big as yours, but suits me well enough,” Bobby chuckled.

“I meant how warm and cozy it feels,” she laughed. “Mostly ’cuz of the tile Color I think since the cabinets’re all white.”

“Not really much of a guy who cares about what Color my kitchen is,” the bassist admitted, grinning sheepishly.

“You’re more of a mind that as long as it’s functional, ya couldn’t care less, if it was baby-shit green, right?” Aria queried teasingly.

“Well, I think I’d have to draw the line at a Color like that!” he laughed. “That’s just gross, even for me!”

The tiny woman couldn’t help joining his laughter as he disappeared into what turned out to be the pantry just around the corner from the archway they’d walked through to get to the kitchen.

“Go ahead and settle at the bar, if ya wanna,” Bobby told her as he Returned with a box of sketti in his hand.

“Ya sure ya don’t need any help?” she asked. “I mean, I’m half-Italian, so I love cooking.”

“So do I,” the bassist answered, nodding. “Got into it ’cuz my mom got me in the kitchen when I was lil, so I’m pretty damn good at it, myself.”

Aria was curiousta see what he could possibly come up with that’d be her own mother’s sketti, so she contented herself with settling back to watch him. Thankfully, climbing up on the stool across the counter from where he started laying out ingredients wasn’t hard for her. Not only that, but the stool she settled on was a lot more comfortable than she’d have thought it’d be, considering how bony her ass was due to her lack of weight.

It wasn’t long before Bobby’d browned the ground beef he’d pulled outta his fridge as she was getting settled. From there, he got to work on getting his homemade sauce thrown together while the pasta was actually boiling. The tiny woman who was watching him Intently couldn’t deny that his culinary masterpiece was smelling Divine, and it was actually making her hungry.

Before much more Time’d passed, he was mixing pasta and sauce together in the giant pot he’d made said sauce in. Moments later, he’d gotten dinner plated, and she couldn’t deny that she was pleased to see that even Garlic bread was included. With the plates settled on the bar, the bassist reached into the drawer to the left of his sink for a pair of forks before opening the fridge again. Turning to join her at the bar revealed that he’d grabbed a couple Dark brown bottles, and she knew they were beer without even having to ask. She wasn’t too sure about trying such a substance since she’d never had any before, but ultimately decided to give it a shot.

Grinning as he twisted the cap off one of them, the bassist told her that she didn’t have to drink it, if she didn’t wanna. He’d other things that were non-alcoholic, if she didn’t wanna get so much as tipsy tonight, but he honestly thought she’d like it. Taking that as a challenge of sorts, Aria gave him a hard look as she took the bottle, pausing to sniff it before actually taking a sip. It took a few moments for her to identify the exact flavors that met her tongue besides the typical flavor of beer, but she was surprised to soon realize that it was mostly Cinnamon and Ginger.

“See, I toldja you’d prolly like it,” he chuckled as she took another sip.

“Guess I’ma beer snob, then,” the tiny woman giggled. “My brothers’ve gotten me to try a few different beers, and I’ve never found one I like till now.”

“Nothing wrong with that,” Bobby assured her. “Just like I can’t really stand any kinda hard liquor besides Jack and Jim.”

“But you’ve tried several different kinds?” she queried curiously.

“Sometimes, it was a matter of swiping whatever my stepdad had in the fridge,” the bassist admitted. “If I’d to resort to that, I’d to take whatever I could get.”

“I guess that makes sense,” Aria said, a thoughtful look on her face.

“Between that and being on tour, I’ve pretty much had everything from whiskey to rum back down to vodka,” he told her. “And if I gotta pick a favorite, I’m going with just about any kinda whiskey, even Scotch.”

“A man after my own heart,” the tiny woman giggled as they grabbed their forks.

Bobby couldn’t help his grin as they continued conversing between eating and nursing their beers, glad he was getting this chanceta get to know her better. Most of the Time when he’d meet a woman, it wound up turning into a one-Night stand, which didn’t offer an opportunity for forming any kinda bond. And pretty much all of his Romantic relationships’d fizzled out not long after they’d Begun, so he hadn’t exactly gotten to know _those_ women very well, either.

Once they were done with dinner and he’d loaded the dishwasher, the bassist led her back down the hall toward the mud room. Pausing outside the door of what he identified as the guest room, he told Aria that she didn’t necessarily _have_ to sleep in this room, if she didn’t wanna. It was up to her, but she was free to join him in his own room, which was behind him at the other End of the hall.

A thoughtful expression crossed the tiny woman’s face as she pondered her options, but there was something he couldn’t quite discern glittering in her eyes. She almost seemed like she was suspicious of his Intentions, which there wasn’t really a need for tonight. He wouldn’t deny that he was attracted to her and would love nothing more than to get her in his bed for some dirty fun, but he wasn’t gonna get on his knees and beg, so to speak. That kinda thing becoming a Reality, rather than a Dream that’d leave him waking up a mess again, would be a pleasant surprise for him.

“What’re ya up to, Bobby?” she chuckled, her tone a bit sultry.

“I’m not up to shit,” Bobby laughed. “Like I told your brothers, I’ve my pick of more women than I know what to do with, if I want _that.”_

The tiny woman was well aware of that, and she wasn’t quite sure it sat well with her.

“Besides, a Night of cuddles never hurt anybody,” he said. “As long as the second party’s willing, that is.”

“Don’t even wanna cuddle, let alone sleep with an unwilling woman, huh?” Aria queried, her expression brightening into a broad grin.

“It’s no fun, if a woman’s unwilling,” the bassist retorted with a grin of his own.

“And what if the woman in question _is_ willing?” She took a step closer to him, that sultry tone lacing her voice again.

_“Mmm,_ all for the better,” Bobby said, his own tone turning a bit sultry. “Just don’t tease me, ’cuz that’s not gonna leave me in a good mood.”

“What if I like to tease, though?” The tiny woman pouted up at him with award-winning puppy-Dog eyes.

“Then ya better hope you’re a good captain,” he growled, hauling her against him. “’Cuz you’re going down with your ship, if ya awaken _this_ Kraken.”

Aria laughed as he reached down to grab her ass, but not necessarily for a bad reason–or at least, none that _she_ considered truly bad. She was a foot and a-half shorter than him, so it was no doubt more comfortable for him to heft her up to his level as opposed to leaning down to her. But she was more than okay with that, ’cuz being picked up and carried allowed her to wrap her legs around his waist, her arms around his neck.

The bassist let out another growl as he turned for his bedroom, pausing only long enough to kick his door shut behind them. He didn’t worry about locking it since they were the only ones here right now, not that he thought anyone’d walk in on them. Other than his mother and siblings, the rest of Poison were the only ones who knew where he lived, and they usually called before they came over.

Considering that he didn’t wanna be bothered right now, Bobby settled her on the edge of his bed before kneeling down next to the nightstand beside it. He was quick to unplug the telephone that lived on it next to his alarm clock, ’cuz he meant it when he so much as thought that he didn’t wanna be disturbed. Aside from this one, the only other telephone in the house was in the living room, and that was clean across the house from where they were. It’d be a miracle for them to hear it start ringing in here, especially once things took a steamy turn and got noisy. Otherwise, it could ring till the Sun went down and the Cows came home, but they’d never hear the slightest _briiiing!_

Turning his attention back to the matter at hand, he pushed himself up enough to crawl onto his bed so he loomed over her. Aria couldn’t help a shiver at the predatory look in his eyes, but her smile didn’t falter as she scooted back a bit to make more room for him. Part of her wanted to demand that he pinch her, just so she’d know for sure that she wasn’t Dreaming once again. But there was another part of her that already knew damn good and well she wasn’t Dreaming, and she wasn’t willing to waste Time on something silly.

Before the tiny woman knew it, both of them were stripped so they were nekkid as the Days they were born and wound tighter than CC’s guitar strings. There was no denying just how aroused they both were–Bobby was so hard that it was physically painful for him, and her Dew was already drenching his sheets. However, there was one thing that he kinda considered a problem, and he damn sure hoped it’d be one they could overcome. As tiny as she was compared to him, he was worried about accidentally hurting her since he was a lil bigger than average. Not only that, but he didn’t think he’d be able to avoid crushing her, if he was on top for any romps they shared. That begged to question–was it better to let _her_ be on top, or should he take her from a spooning position?

“I kinda like being on top,” she panted, gently pushing at his chest.

“That so, huh?” the bassist chuckled, equally breathless as he rolled onto his back.

“Gives me a lil more Control that way,” Aria told him. “Keeps guys from pushing in a lil _too_ far and hurting me when they don’t mean to, if I can pretty much jump up outta their lap.”

“Makes perfect senseta me,” he agreed, reaching into the drawer of his nightstand.

The tiny woman watched, smiling as he pulled out a lil foil packet.

“But it doesn’t matter what position we’re gonna use, if there’s not one of these,” Bobby said, using his teeth to rip it open.

“Got that right,” she agreed with an approving nod. “I’d rather there _not_ be any lil Bobbys or lil Arias running around just yet.”

“I’ma lil too young for kids, I think,” the bassist laughed, pinching the tip of that packet’s contents. “Not saying it’s required, but I’d prefer to be married before _that_ happens.”

“Just being in a loving, stable relationship’s good enough for you?” Aria queried, watching as he settled the slimy latex over his tip and started rolling it downward.

“Yeah, and we’re not even at _that_ point yet,” he answered. “I’d say the potential’s there, but let’s talk about that later.”

“Agreed, ’cuz I’ve an itch that needs scratching,” the tiny woman purred.

“At this point, I think it’s gone well beyond an itch,” Bobby chuckled.

Flexing certain muscles as he laid back, he let one hand riseta her waist as she moved over top of his lap. Her legs were just barely long enough to allow enough clearance for her to straddle him, but she was still able to do so. Course, that just meant that it wouldn’t take as much work to get him lined up since he pretty much already was.

Aria sank down with a mewl so high-pitched, she quite literally sounded like a young kitten crying out for its mama. The bassist knew she couldn’t help the pitch of her voice, though, and if he were completely honest, it was even more of a turn-on for him. In fact, between that and her tiny body already putting him in a vice, he couldn’t help a deep, guttural groan that somehow harmonized with that mewl perfectly. He also couldn’t help his hands gripping her hips as she continued sinking down till they both felt his tip wedge itself against her cervix.

What was almost unbelievable–at least, as far as Bobby was concerned–was that he was actually completely hilted by the Time he bottomed out. Considering how small she wasta the nekkid eye, he’d honestly thought her innards’d be too small for him to manage such a feat without hurting her. He supposed that proved that women were just more flexible and stretchy than he’d ever imagined and quickly put those Thoughts in the back of his mind for the Time being.

Once she’d given them both a few momentsta adjust, the tiny woman lifted herself till only his tip was still lodged within her. She was forced to grab his waist when she leaned forward so she could find her balance, ’cuz she couldn’t quite reach his shoulders. It worked well enough, and at least she wasn’t putting pressure on his chest or belly that prevented him from breathing as she started their rhythm. Course, she wasn’t too sure he’d have cared about that, as long as he got his rocks off before it was all over and the fat lady sang, so to speak.

The bassist fought to Control himself with every inward stroke, and not just when it came to holding back from bucking up into her. It’d been long enough since the last Time he’d gotten laid that he could already feel his orgasm building, and how tight she was around his shaft was only making it build faster. Luckily, it seemed that Aria’s orgasm was building at the same pace, if not faster–her rhythm quickened its pace far faster than he was expecting, which was a telltale sign. That made him grin as he readjusted one hand slightly, his thumb quickly finding her clit through what lil bit of hair Graced her crotch. But that gentle touch was all it took to set her off with a shriek that rivaled the Mythical Banshee, her bucking hips and pulsing quickly setting him off, too.

_“Ohhhh,_ Goddess,” she mewled, panting as she struggled to hold herself up once the Waves of pleasure ebbed.

“Ya can say that again, my lil Shadow kitten,” Bobby chuckled breathlessly.

_“Shadow kitten,_ huh?” the tiny woman giggled.

“Ya mewl just like one,” he defended himself with a laugh. “And it seems that you’re just as Dark-minded as I can be sometimes.”

“Never said I didn’t like it,” Aria told him, finally managing to lift herself up to dislodge him. “I’ma just have to think of a ridiculous pet name for you now.”

“Well, don’t be hurting your brainsta do it,” the bassist said, grinning as he made sure the rubber didn’t come off within her depths. “I’d rather not see ya become a slobbering mess that plays with her bottom lip all Day.”

“Ya wise-ass!” she laughed, whomping him with the pillow from the other side of the bed.

“Hey, I don’t want _my_ brains hurt, either!” Bobby crowed, his arm rising to shield his face and head instinctively.

“Can’t be hurting yours when they’re the ones that’s gotta come up with Poison’s bass riffs, right?” the tiny woman queried.

“Something like that,” he agreed as he finally sat up so he could remove and dispose of the rubber. “’Cuz Bret’s no bassist, and CC’s nowhere near as good at it as I am.”

“Fair enough.” Aria nodded her agreement, wincing as she made to crawl across the bed. “Sweet Goddess, I’ma be paying for that tomorrow.”

“Ya all right, sweetheart?” the bassist queried, cocking a brow as he turned back from tossing the used latex in his trash can.

“Sore since it’s been a while for me,” she answered.

“Then c’mon, and we’ll go grab a hot shower,” Bobby told her. “Might even soak in the tub for a while once we’re actually clean since holding my bike up so much made me a lil sore, too.”

Nodding her agreement, the tiny woman allowed him to help her into his bathroom, where he settled her rump on the edge of the tub surround. She watched as he opened the shower’s glass door and reached in to turn it on, sizing up both it and the tub she was seated on. If she weren’t as tiny as she was from having Russell-Silver, no doubt both of them’d be a pretty tight squeeze for two people at the same Time. To be honest, they might still be a tight squeeze, but prolly not as bad as if she were even average size for a woman.

After letting the Water heat up, the bassist gently pulled her to her feet and into the shower with him. He made sure she was positioned under the showerhead first, more than willing to wait for his turn since she was prolly more sore than he was. Besides, the pleasured mewl she let out at feeling the hot Water cascading over her was like a twisted sorta Music to his ears.

It didn’t take long for them to get washed up, which was when Bobby reached forward to kill the shower. Stepping outta said cubicle, he was just glad that his Water heater seemed to be limitless, ’cuz he saw no point in drying off just yet, but wasn’t liking the chilly Air. Luckily, the tub filled up pretty quickly, so it wasn’t long before he was stepping over its edge so he could settle in it. Once he was settled, he helped his date step over the edge since it was pretty wide, then got her settled so she could lean back against his chest. With her hips nestled between his thighs and his crotch pressed against her back, he was content to just sit back and relax for a bit.

Aria sighed happily as the hot Water both warmed her up again and started to Soothe her aches and pains. She didn’t regret what she’d just done with the man who’d caught her attention right from Day one, but that didn’t mean she’d to like any pain such shenanigans caused her. But as she sat there between his legs, she couldn’t help but wonder what this kinda turn between them meant for their Future together.

Did this mean that she was gonna have to choose between working for him, or getting what she considered a once-in-a-Lifetime chance at something far better?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I know the real estate listing says this house's in Huntington Beach, California, but we're gonna pretend it's _actually_ in Burbank. It was one of the only ones I could find that I thought fit Bobby's laid-back style when it comesta how he dresses–at least, these Days, anywhore–which's how he strikes me when it comesta what kinda house he'd pick.  
> ~Firefly
> 
> Link to Bobby's House–https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/308-Cleveland-Dr-Huntington-Beach-CA-92648/25114485_zpid/?


	9. Nine

“Yo, Bobby–where the fuckin’ hell’re ya at, man?”

Early the next Morn, Bobby was still sleeping so well and deeply that he never even heard a car door slam out from in his driveway. He didn’t even hear the key that unlocked his front door, nor said door opening seconds after it was unlocked. For that matter, he didn’t even hear boots tapping on the hardwood that covered the majority of the floors throughout his house.

Still sleeping just as deeply as he was, Aria never heard any of those Sounds, nor the additional one of his bedroom door soon being opened. Just like she’d been since they’d finally crawled into bed for something _other_ than sex, she was curled up in front of him, her face all but buried in his chest. One of the pillows from the guest bed was between her legs, which were draped over his waist since she was facing him. He hadn’t wanted to drape his own legs over her to avoid hurting her, and other than spooning or her using him as a mattress, this was the best they could come up with.

It was a sudden, surprised squawk that finally woke the pair, making them both jump as they were startled awake. The bassist grumbled as he looked over his shoulder toward his bedroom door, one hand rising to rub the sleep outta his eyes. He was vaguely able to make out long, blonde hair on what looked like a masculine frame, so he knew it’d to be one of his band mates. Granted, that didn’t mean he was happy about the invasion of his privacy, nor the rude awakening, but that was a trivial matter.

“What the hell’re ya breaking and entering again for?” he grumbled, glaring at whoever stood in his doorway.

“Dude, don’tcha know you’re playing with Fire by mixing business with pleasure?”

Bobby groaned as he instantly recognized his front man’s voice. “Shut up and get outta here, asshat, before I give ya a show you’ll never forget.”

“I’m not going anywhere till you’re up outta that bed so I know ya don’t go back to sleep!” he told him. “God knows you’ve already ditched us for one Day–you’re not doing it again!”

“Yeah, ’cuz I was kinda busy this weekend,” the bassist snapped as he pushed himself upright.

“No fuckin’ shit!” Bret groaned, reaching up to pinch the bridge of his nose. “I mean, fuck–can Aria even walk at this point?”

“Yeah, I can walk,” said tiny woman groused. “Hurts, but that’s kinda normal for me when I’ve any dirty fun.”

The front man clearly wasn’t sure what to say to that as he stared at them.

“It hurts with just about _any_ guy I sleep with,” Aria said, holding the coversta her chest as she, too sat up. “At least Bobby’s not the size of any of my brothers, though.”

“I’d have _definitely_ broken ya, if that was the case,” he chuckled.

“I’m not sure I wanna know,” Bret said, an uncertain tone to his voice.

“Man, if I’m lying, I’m dying, but her brothers all make _me_ look like a midget!” Bobby laughed. “The shortest one’s _gotta_ be seven-foot-even!”

His jaw dropped in shock, those blue eyes of his widening. “Wait, howddaya know that?”

Grinning as he propped his elbows on his raised knees, the bassist made it clear that he wasn’t giving away _when_ her birthday was, but it’d been fairly recent. Due to reasons he wasn’t getting into any more than he was giving away her birthday, he’d gotten to meet Aria’s family over the weekend. It was for that reason that he’d disappeared during that Time, and his band knew better than to expect him to wanna work on his own birthday, if he didn’t absolutely have to.

The front man simply shook his head, a bit of a smirk curving the corners of his mouth as he let out an exasperated sigh. He told them that he’d absolutely no desire to see any of his friends’ cocks, but he still wasn’t leaving till he was assured that he was up and ready to go. If he didn’t make sure he got into the studio today, he wasn’t too sure _where_ Rikki’s drumsticks’d wind up, and he didn’t wanna find out the hard way. Still, while he wasn’t backing down on getting him outta bed, he _was_ at least willing to give them their privacy.

Laughing, Bobby told him to go grab what was in the dryer in his laundry room and just leave it on the foot of his bed. At least that’d save him from having to see his bare cock–or getting himself killed for seeing the tiny woman stark-nekkid. ’Cuz he was absolutely sure that once he clapped eyes on her nude form, he wouldn’t be able to rip them away, and he didn’t share whoever he wound up with.

More than glad to take his leave, he laughed as he headed to said laundry room, only pausing long enough to pull the door shut behind him. Assured that he wouldn’t see anything, he let Aria crawl over him so she could take her turn in the bathroom first. Groaning as he finally stood up to stretch out the Nighttime kinks, he told her to just hide in his closet while he was taking his turn. That’d save her from being seen when Bret Returned with their clothes, considering that without stealing some of his, she’d nothing to wear till then. Luckily, she was more than agreeable to that plan as she emerged from the bathroom to let him in, the toilet running as it refilled its tank.

“All right, the dryer’s contents’re on your bed, man!” the front man said.

“Then get out so we can get dressed!” Bobby laughed. “We’ll be out once we are!”

“Ya better hope so, ’cuz if I’ve to see your dick, I’ma cut it off!” he warned him.

“I’ll just take yours so we’re even!” the bassist retorted, flushing before moving to wash his hands.

“Just hurry it up before Rikki starts calling to get even _my_ attention!” Bret said, his voice muffled as he closed the door behind himself again.

“Well, at least we remembered to wash our new clothes last Night,” Aria mused as she stepped outta his closet to start sorting through garments.

“Yeah, of you’d be drowning in mine,” the bassist chuckled, stepping outta the bathroom to join her.

“Seriously, ’cuz your boxers’d be more like capris on me!” she giggled.

“And even my tank tops’d be more like dresses on ya,” Bobby agreed. “You’d disappear into a weird sorta tent, if I gave ya one of my T-shirts, instead.”

“Might be kinda fun for just a Day or Night around the house, but not for heading into the studio,” the tiny woman mused.

“We might have to find out sometime,” he told her. “But yeah, right now’s _not_ that Time.”

Nodding her agreement, Aria started laying out both their clothes in the order that made the most senseta her as she sorted through them. While she laid their shirts out so they were on the bottom of the piles, their underwear wound up on the very top. She didn’t know what order he normally went in, but she always started with whatever underwear she happened to be wearing. It didn’t matter if they were boxer-briefs, boy shorts, or a thong–they always came first, quickly followed by her bra.

The bassist couldn’t help giving her an appreciative glance as he took his boxers and started stepping into them. He’d been surprised to find out that her bra size was actually bigger than he’d have expected as he’d been loading their clothes into the washer for a quick cycle. Since she was so tiny in pretty much every other way, he’d been expecting her to need a lil girl’s training bra, at best. Finding out that she was actually a 32-B was a pleasant surprise, ’cuz she hadn’t looked like she possessed much under her shirt.

Once they were both dressed and had brushed their hair, Bobby wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her snugly against his side. The tiny woman practically purred as she wrapped an arm around his hips, which sufficed for wrapping it around his waist. Now, it was just Time they find something resembling breakfast, or he was gonna be a mean mother fucker by lunchtime.

Bret seemed to be thinking the same thing, ’cuz he’d already taken the liberty of getting started on his typical breakfast for him. The blonde wasn’t nearly the chef that he was, but he could definitely handle something simple like bacon, Eggs, and toast. However, he hadn’t known what Aria preferred for breakfast, so he’d held off on making _her_ anything for the moment. He hadn’t wanted to make her anything, only for the food to go to waste ’cuz she didn’t like what he’d made her. But she was more than okay with that, ’cuz it showed that he was actually more thoughtful than he’d appeared when she’d first met him.

“Actually, I don’t tend to eat as much as you’d think,” she said, hauling herself up onto the bar stool next to her date.

“That’d certainly explain why you’re so skinny,” the front man mused, plating his friend’s food.

“It’s ’cuz of the same thing that makes me so short,” Aria told him.

“Wait, really?” Bret’s eyes widened in surprise as he paused, then got back to what he was doing.

“Yeah, and that reminds me…” Bobby nodded as he took the plate he was handed. “I hope you’ve extra supplies today.”

“Depends on whatcha mean by _supplies,”_ the front man told him, crossing his arms as a suspicious look crossed his face.

“For your diabetes,” the bassist said.

“You’re diabetic?” he queried, turning his attention elsewhere.

“No, I’m not,” the tiny woman answered. “But one of the telltale signs of what I _do_ have–Russell-Silver Syndrome–is an almost non-existent appetite.”

Bret couldn’t help looking surprised as he processed that.

“Most of the Time, it’s infants, toddlers, and young children who exhibit that symptom,” Aria explained. “But for some reason, I never outgrew it like most with this type of dwarfism do.”

“Which means your sugar’s prolly as bonkers as mine more often than it’s not,” the front man mused.

She wasn’t quite sure what he meant, so she simply cocked a brow at him.

“I was diagnosed with Type I diabetes when I was six,” the front man chuckled. “My sugar can go nuts in the blink of an eye, especially with all the drinking I do and how much weed I smoke.”

Aria’s eyes were the onesta widen as she processed that.

He chuckled again as he admitted that he knew that wasn’t good for him, but he’d actually been cutting back a bit lately. It didn’t seem like he wasta those who knew him best–like Bobby, for instance–but when he _wasn’t_ around his band mates, he didn’t do that shit as often. Additionally, he didn’t take it quite as far when he did, ’cuz he didn’t have the others so much as inadvertently goading him.

The tiny woman hummed thoughtfully as he finally managed to weasel her preferred breakfast outta her. Even though she hadn’t known about his Health problems for long, she hadn’t thought he’d it as bad as he actually did. Then again, she was more familiar with her own disease than any others, and she also hadn’t known how long he’d been diabetic. At least he knew how she felt when it came to having something that’d technically keep her sick for Life ever since she was a lil kid, if nothing else, though–it gave her a lil Comfort to know that.

Once she and the bassist were finally done eating, they were quick to wash what few dishes’d been piled up in the sink. With that task done, they headed off to the mud room so they could grab their keys, then head into the garage to his car. Bret headed out the front door so he could make sure it was locked again, not to mention move his own car. It was but a few moments after that that they were off to the studio, all of them having agreed not to tell Rikki and CC about what he’d found that Morn.


	10. Ten

_March, 1988_

By the Time the Sabbat Aria called _Ostara_ –which the band she worked for knew as the holiday of Easter–rolled around, things were looking good for all of them. The band had managed to finish up the recording of their sophomore album, which was now in the process of being mixed and mastered. And just as promised, she and her family were soon to find out what he’d meant months ago when he’d said that the shirt he’d bought her tied back to himself and his band nicely.

While they’d managed to keep what Bret’d discovered from the other half of the band–which Bobby was grateful for–things weren’t gonna stay that way for long. He was unaware that what was now a full-fledged relationship was about to come to Light–and not just for the band and crew members who didn’t already know.

“Dude, what the fuck’s all this about?”

Walking into the studio for the final Day of mixing before their record went on to being mastered, the bassist and his tiny girlfriend both cocked a brow at Rikki, who’d been the one to speak.

 _“The Moose and the Mouse?”_ he queried, holding up a copy of one of the local tabloids.

Both their eyes widened as they took in what was obviously the front cover, which made him let out a distinctly foreign Curse.

“Just what the hell’ve we been missing?” CC asked. “And why the hell doesn’t Bret seem at all surprised by this?”

“’Cuz he already knew and was sworn to Secrecy before I’d to kill him,” Bobby grumbled.

The other blondes looked confused as he snatched the tabloid outta the drummer’s hands.

“The long and short of it–Aria and I’ve been dating since shortly after our birthdays,” he explained, skimming over the accompanying article.

“Wait, I just heard an _our_ in there,” the guitarist mused.

“Her birthday’s pretty closeta mine, and that’s all ya need to know unless she decides otherwise,” the bassist clarified.

“All right, I guess that makes sense,” Rikki said with a nod. “But why hide thatcha started dating her?”

Heaving a sigh as he flopped down on the studio couch, Bobby ran his fingers through his hair while the hand holding the tabloid rested beside him. As far as he was concerned, his private Life was exactly that–private–and the rest of the World didn’t need to know about what he did on his off-Time. Not only that, but he hadn’t wanted to hear a bunch of lip about not mixing business with pleasure since he didn’t Intend to let that get in the way.

Aria’d the choice between being his tech, his girlfriend, or both simultaneously, and he’d decided to leave that up to her. She’d quickly decided that she wanted to give being both a shot, and that if it didn’t work out, she’d just as soon give up the position as his tech as give up _him_. It was oft hard to find what they shared, and she wasn’t about to give up on them any more easily than he was.

When they thought about it like that, the drummer and guitarist didn’t exactly blame him for the choice he’d made. Both readily admitted that they’d have reacted much the same way Bret’d reacted at first by reminding him what usually happened when one mixed business with pleasure. The fact that they’d clearly already thought about that and come up with their own plan woulda quickly shut them up, though, so they wouldn’t have argued it for long. If anything, they’d have teamed up with him to at least try to protect the tiny woman from the media–which could oft be well beyond brutal–since she’d no experience in dealing with them.

Bobby nodded and admitted that he’d thought about telling them before this point, but he again referenced what he said about his private Life being private. It was bad enough that their front man’d somewhat walked in on them–he hadn’t actually seen them going at it, after all. He didn’t really want them knowing anything else since they didn’t exactly need to know about specifics, which his girlfriend agreed with wholeheartedly. Even she agreed that the less they knew, the better off they’d be since at least they wouldn’t be scarred for Life.

“Well, I don’t particularly care about your sex Life–or even a lack thereof,” Rikki chuckled. “’Cuz don’t get me wrong–you’re like a brother to me and I care aboutcha, but unless I’m involved, it’s none of my business.”

“Ditto,” Bret and CC agreed, nodding.

“Ya just better hope ya don’t hurt her worse than whatever can’t be avoided, considering your size difference,” he warned him, a no-nonsense look taking over his features.

“Man, lay off!” the bassist laughed. “I’ve four damn good reasons _not_ to do anything stupid, or that’s simply unavoidable.”

“Oh, yeah–that’s right.” The guitarist grinned as he looked at Aria. “Didn’tcha tell us the Day we met that you’d four older brothers?”

“I did, ’cuz I do,” she giggled, a devious grin splitting her face.

“And lemme tell ya, they’re four _very big_ reasonsta watch how and where I step, so to speak,” Bobby chuckled.

None of the blondes missed how he put emphasis on a certain two words, only the front man knowing exactly what he meant.

“Do I wanna know why ya emphasized those two words?” the drummer queried.

He didn’t get a chanceta answer before they heard another masculine voice, which only he and the tiny woman recognized.

_“Dove sei, sorellina mia?”_

_“Qui dentro, stronzo gigante!”_ Aria answered, scrambling down off the couch.

 _“Penso che tu intenda_ stronzi _giganti,”_ the same voice responded with a laugh.

The bassist couldn’t help another chuckle of his own as four pairs of boots made their way down the hall toward where they’d been waiting on the producer they were working with this Time around. He knew damn good and well his friends wouldn’t be able to miss what he meant in just a few moments, and they were definitely gonna be surprised.

Jonas was the first of the group to actually enter the room, and Bobby’d to bite back his laughter as his friends’d the exact reaction he’d been expecting. Watching his tiny girlfriend grab her youngest brother for a hug was amusing, and not just ’cuz their eyes continued to widen as he was forced to pick her up like a child. After all, she was so short in comparison that her face was all but buried in his crotch till he did that, and he knew it was only gonna get better. God only knew that not only was this one the youngest brother, he was also the shortest–and he was pretty tall at seven-foot-even.

The tiny woman’s giggling continued as the rest of her brothers joined them, each of them taller than the last’d been. Even Bret’s eyes widened comically as he finally saw what his friend had meant first-hand when he’d told him about them months ago. It was even harder to miss Tony’s exceptional height, considering that he was nigh on _eight_ feet tall in his own right. But they also didn’t miss why her boyfriend said he’d _very big_ reasons not to hurt her, and it wasn’t just that she even _had_ brothers.

“Good fuckin’ God, man,” CC breathed as he stared up at them. “I feel even shorter than I normally do!”

“Trust me, I know the feeling now,” the bassist chuckled. “I’m the same to Tony as Aria is to _me.”_

“Wait, which one’s which?” Rikki queried. “’Cuz no offense, but other than your height, ya all look practically the same to me.”

“Jonas is the shortest and the one holding her,” he answered. “Tony’s the tallest of the bunch.”

“I’d be Nico, the second oldest,” the brother in question supplied.

“And I’m the middle child, Orion,” her second-youngest brother said.

“At least you’ve the slightly-differing heightsta help ya tell them apart, man,” the front man chuckled, sounding a bit wary.

“That’s pretty much the _only_ way I remembered who was who at first,” Bobby admitted. “Well, that, and there’s roughly five Years between each one of them.”

“I’m not quite twenty Years older than our sister,” the oldest said, gladly taking his baby sister for a hug. “I was three when Nico was born, nine when Orion was, and fourteen at the Time of Jonas’ Birth.”

“Ya definitely don’t _look_ like you’re already in your forties,” the drummer mused.

“Stellar genes, man,” Orion laughed. _“Mamma’s_ a Beauty, and asshole that he was, our dad wasn’t bad-looking, either.”

“I’d have to agree just from seeing your sister,” Bret told them. “Not saying she’s my type or that I’d have gone after her, but I know Beauty when I see it.”

All four brothers nodded approvingly, the oldest handing their sister off to the next-oldest so he could give her a hug before she was passed to her final brother.

“So, dare I ask why you’re crashing the party, so to speak?” the guitarist queried curiously.

“Family obligation, so we came to abduct our sister back to the fold,” Tony chuckled.

Naturally, all three blondes were confused since they knew that Easter was coming up, but it certainly wasn’t the next Day or anything. As far as they knew, there _weren’t_ any holidays other than that one that were in the near Future, which made the brothers share a look with each other. The bassist simply held up his hands, swearing he hadn’t told them shit, ’cuz he didn’t think they needed to know any more than they’d needed to know about his and Aria’s relationship.

Tony nodded approvingly before pinning a look on the trio of blondes settled on the other couch as much as his younger brothers did. He said that now wasn’t the Time and place for such a discussion–they could do that later on back at Bobby’s house or something. Still, he wasn’t gonna hide anything from them, depending on how open-minded they were, if they were really _that_ curious.

Even CC could tell that he wasn’t budging on that point and readily agreed, ’cuz he was too curious _not_ to find out what else was being Hidden from them. If being told after they’d gotten through this final Day of mixing was the best compromise they were gonna get, he was willing to work with it. God only knew that it certainly beat getting his ass kicked by guys that towered anywhere from a foot and a-half to two feet over his own head. Luckily, Bret and Rikki were in full agreement with that assessment and didn’t try to push boundaries for once, either.

* * *

Later that afternoon, the entire group’d headed back to the bassist’s house, even though a couple of the other guys lived a bit closer to the studio. Since they were too crowded in the house–even when spread out between the living room and kitchen–they were gathered around his Fire pit out back. Those who weren’t able to settle on either of the built-in benches were settled at the dining set under the pergola, which was right outside the window that overlooked his kitchen sink. At least they were close enough to hear each other without having to scream, but still able to stretch out long legs–which was a must for the Mancini brothers.

“So, what kinda _family obligation_ broughtcha from wherever ya live to more or less abduct your baby sister?” Bret queried from where he sat with a beer in his hand.

“And Bobby, provided that he wantsta join in,” Orion chuckled. “If he doesn’t, that’s fine, too.”

All three blondes cocked their brows, but simply waited for his question to be answered.

“The long and short of us–none of us’re Christian,” Tony explained. “Our mother’s Greek, and our father was Italian.”

“That explains the use of a foreign language earlier today,” Rikki mused.

“We’re all fluent in Greek, Italian, and English,” he said. “We just don’t tend to use Italian around our mother ’cuz of the memories it dredges up for her.”

“I guess that makes sense, but I won’t deny being curious,” the drummer told him.

“We’ll cover that in a lil bit,” Nico promised. “One thing at a Time before anyone gets confused.”

Even CC was content to agree with that, judging by the nods they got.

The oldest of the brothers explained how their mother’d been raised a Pagan by a Pagan family, who followed the ways of the Ancient Greeks. If he were to put any kinda label on it, she’d be what was referred to as a _Hellenic Witch,_ ’cuz that’s what those who followed that Path were. He said it was somewhat akin to some of the Ancient Celts being Druids, _Kemetic Witches_ basing their practice on the Ancient Egyptians, and _Stregharia_ being the Old Religion of Italy.

However, their father’d been Roman-Catholic, so he’d wanted absolutely nothing to do with his wife’s religion in the very Beginning. While he hadn’t forbade her to teach their children the ways of her people, he’d certainly frowned upon it. But after his departure prior to Aria’s Birth, Cali’d made damn sure they were raised the same way she was.

Once they’d a few momentsta process that, Nico explained that various cultures around the World practiced in varying ways. That also meant that where one might observe a certain holiday, another might observe a different one altogether or none at all. It just depended on which Path one followed, kinda like which Deities they worshipped depended on the Pantheon. After all, the entire family celebrated the holiday they’d come to retrieve their sister for, but she celebrated it for double the reason since it also fell under her chosen Pantheon.

“The Sabbat of _Ostara_ was celebrated by pretty much every culture across the Planet with the exception of a few,” the next-to-oldest explained.

“Wait, what the hell’s _Ostara?”_ Bret queried, confusion marring his features.

“Basically, think of it as the origins of Easter,” Aria answered, drawing his attention to where she sat in her boyfriend’s lap.

Even said boyfriend looked confused now, which made her giggle.

 _“Ostara’s_ the celebration of the Vernal Equinox and the Return of Spring–and therefore, warmer Weather,” she explained. “The Teutons–which’s technically where Finnish Paganism came from–Honored their Goddess of Spring, Eostre, during this particular Sabbat.”

All of them nodded and gestured for her to continue.

“Eostre’s actually where the word _Easter_ comes from,” Tony chuckled, taking them by surprise. “But she wasn’t the only Deity to ever be Honored on this Sabbat.”

“It was of great importance throughout Rome, Greece, and even Nordic and Germanic Lands,” Orion continued. “Tons of Myths talk about various Deities heading into the Underworld and struggling to Return to the Land of the Living.”

“You’ve prolly heard the Greek Myth about Persephone Ending up wed to Hades, God of the Underworld,” Jonas said. “And how during one half of the Year, she resides there with her husband, while she Returnsta Earth to be with her mother, Demeter, during the other half of the Year.”

“I _have_ heard that one, actually,” Bobby admitted, a thoughtful look on his face.

“Well, Ceres was the Roman answer to Demeter, her daughter Proserpina the Roman answer to Persephone,” he explained. “But other Resurrected Deities include the Norse Odin, the Celtic Dagdha, and even the Egyptian Osiris.”

Even Rikki was enthralled as the group of siblings continued by saying that in just about every culture that observed this Sabbat, the mating of the Maiden Goddess with the young God was also celebrated. That particular event’d been moved to the next Sabbat on the list–which they prolly knew as _May Day_ –by most Pagan Circles. But even still, feasting, Ritual, and sexual relations were all but obligatory on both _Ostara Eve_ and _Beltane Eve_. Said feasting also incorporated cake, honey, and Eggs as much as it tended to incorporate Fish due to Pisces being the Constellation that ruled the Heavens at this Time of Year.

But this particular Sabbat was Primarily in celebration of Life triumphing over Death more so than any other was. Sowing new crops and Blessing the Lands they grew from was almost as obligatory as the sexual relations of _Ostara Eve_. Many different Traditions regarding this Day abounded the World over, but there were a lotta similarities, and not just in the Deities and their stories. After all, Eggs were seen as symbols of New Life and were venerated as sacred objects of _Eternal_ Life.

Tony continued by explaining how Egg hunts were actually Pagan in their origins, ’cuz they technically stemmed from India and China. It was there that the belief of Karma was strong, and Karma’s conviction was all about what one did being Returned to them threefold. Were he to shorten the explanation, that meant that the Egg hunts were symbolic of one being fully responsible for oneself, and therefore finding their own Path to New Life. In fact, it was kinda like the mindset they’d had upon moving out here to get their band off the ground and build better Lives for themselves.

“The difference’s that this carries over into your next Lifetime, shouldja ever be Reincarnated like the God is during _Yule,”_ he said.

“Almost sounds like Jesus being born at Christmas, then Resurrected during Easter,” the drummer mused.

“Whereddaya think that Myth came from?” Orion laughed. “’Cuz newsflash–Christianity’s nothing but a rip-off of Paganism.”

“There’s no way,” CC argued, a stubborn look crossing his face.

“Paganism’s Millennia older than Christianity’ll ever Dream of being,” Nico stated. “It goes back to the Ancient Egyptians, and prolly further than that.”

“We, Pagans just don’t have that _convert or die_ mentality that patriarchal religions tend to,” the oldest brother told them. “We could care less what anyone else believes in and worships, as long as they afford the same courtesy and Respect to us in Return.”

“Which’s why we said that even Bobby’s invited to the _Ostara_ celebration we’re having,” the youngest chuckled. “But if he _doesn’t_ wanna partake any more than he did during _Samhain,_ that’s fine, too.”

“Wait, what’s _Samhain?”_ the front man asked.

“It’s the origins of Halloween,” Bobby laughed. “According to what Aria told me, it’s where shit like trick-or-treating and jack-o’-lanterns came from.”

“’Cuz it’s true,” she said, nodding. “Those things’re Celtic in origin, ’cuz while a lotta cultures and Traditions celebrate and Honor their Dead, the Celts seem to’ve been the biggest on that.”

“It’s basically a Time to mourn not only our dead God–who dies and moves on to the Afterlife at that Time–but one’s Ancestors and other departed loved ones,” Tony explained.

“I told Bobby that he was free to join in with even that Sabbat’s celebration, as long as he could behave himself,” the tiny woman giggled. “I knew he’d the hots for me, and that watching us do our _Samhain_ Ritual might push the limits of his Self-Control since we do all our Rituals nude.”

All three blondes cracked up at the Thought of a group of Witches doing anything nude together, whether they were family or not. However, they all agreed that if there was one thing that prolly woulda made Bobby snap at that Time, it was seeing her nude when he was no doubt getting desperate. No doubt he’d have interrupted them at a Time he shouldn’t have, or he’d have wound up accidentally hurting her worse than he ever had later in the Night.

Once everyone’d Calmed down again, the oldest made no bones about even those three being invited to come with them. He’d made it quite clear already that they’d to be open-minded and willing to give them the same courtesy and Respect that they were willing to dish out when it came to their differing religions, so he doubted they’d have any problems there.

Turning his attention to the bassist, he said that none of them were expected to join in, but he could see him being the one who got talked into it, if any of them did. Naturally, he couldn’t help wondering why that was, ’cuz he didn’t know the first thing about how these Sabbats were celebrated. Sure, they were prolly gonna be partying into the wee hours of the Morn, but other than that, he was completely clueless. He didn’t even think about the mention of sexual relations, which woulda given him quite a hint, if he _had_ thought about it.

Grinning, Orion told him that there was something called the _Great Rite,_ which could be done a couple different ways. Either it could be done in a symbolic sense with wine and a couple Tools of the Craft, or it could be done physically. If it was done physically, the occasion was commonly referred to as _Ritual sex_ since it entailed having sex in the middle of one’s Ritual.

Bobby’s face and neck turned red at the Thought of going at it with his girlfriend in front of anyone else, everybody else cracking up at his expense. The oldest was quick to reassure him that he didn’t _have_ to join in on the _Great Rite,_ if he didn’t wanna, but it wasn’t like he’d be the only one to, if he did. After all, he and his brothers were all gonna enact it with their own significant others, and no doubt their mother’d do the same, if she were taken. It was entirely up to him, ’cuz none of them–not even the tiny woman–was gonna try to force or coerce him into it. They were just giving him fair warning, rather than letting him join to even watch without the slightest clue about what was gonna happen.

After a few moments’ Thought, he said that he’d have to think about partaking in the _Great Rite_ with the others, but he was willing to join them for even watching the Ritual. The thing that he was grateful for was that–like when Aria’d warned him about their doing Rituals nude back at _Samhain_ –they were giving him the same fair warning now. He’d make up his mind one way or the other on the drive up to Santa Clarita, and they’d have their answer by the Time they got there.


	11. Eleven

“Holy Mother of–with all due Respect, ma’am, how’d these boys _not_ tear ya apart when they were all born!?”

Cali Mancini laughed as she passed out hugsta not just Bobby, but even the friends he’d brought along and quickly introduced to everyone else. The question’d been posed by the tallest of the blondes, who now held her at arm’s length to get a good look at her. All four of her sons towered over her more than they did any of the other guys, considering she was only about CC’s height at five-foot eight. Being taller than the average woman didn’t mean shit when her oldest and tallest son was over two feet taller than she was.

“C-sections’re a Godsend, my dear,” she chuckled, patting his cheek in a motherly way. “I doubt I’d have survived to give Birth even a second Time, if I’d to delivery Antonio Naturally.”

“So, _that’s_ your name, huh?” Bret queried with a grin as he looked at the tallest man.

“Generally, only Mama get away with actually calling me that,” he answered. “Otherwise, the only one I actually respond to when they do it’s my wife.”

Said woman–Gina–grinned as he pulled her against his side.

“I’m sure having even a single C-section complicated Future deliveries at least a lil, though,” the bassist mused, having jumped in to help finish up meal prep now that he was all but part of the family and allowed in the kitchen.

“I made sure I’d already scheduled one long before any of the other boys were born,” the family matriarch said. “And if I started contracting _before_ the scheduled Time, they took me on in for the next one before anything unsavory could happen.”

“What about when Aria was born?” CC queried. “I mean, as tiny as she is now, I don’t imagine she was anywhere near as big as her brothers.”

“Nowhere near it,” she agreed. “Whereas the boys were all in the ballpark of ten pounds, if not heavier, Aria was my lil peanut.”

Settling in the family room, Cali explained that–due to her condition–she’d failed to thrive, even before she was born. At the Time of her Birth, she’d been a measly two pounds and barely a foot long, which made her seem even tinier than she already was when her brothers held her. That hadn’t exactly Changed in the twenty-three Years since, but that just made her all the more lovable to them.

Much to even Bobby’s surprise, it was Nico who shut his friends up with a searing look when they made to ask about other things pertaining to her Birth. He was generally the quietest of the brothers, almost seeming shy compared to the others, which meant he was prolly the most dangerous. If they were to piss _him_ off–especially on such a Joyous Day–there was no telling what could possibly happen, and he didn’t wanna find out the hard way. But even more surprising was when he called the entire band out to the courtyard with him, considering all the kids were playing in the back yard and pool.

Giving them a stern look, the next-to-oldest of the brothers warned them not to try asking about their father or anything to do with him in front of their mother again. Before even Bret could ask why he was issuing that warning, he made it clear that they rarely talked about him, even when Cali _wasn’t_ present, for a reason. None of them liked thinking about how he’d abandoned their family upon finding out that there was something wrong with his fifth child.

“He didn’t even stick around long enough to find out _what_ was wrong with Aria,” he growled. “As soon as the doctor told Mama that it looked like something _might_ be off, he split like a Banana peel.”

All of the blondes winced, even their brunette friend giving them a hard look.

“They’re just like Butch and Patty in that respect, just for different reasons,” Bobby said. “Ya know my dad ran off before I was born ’cuz he didn’t want more than two kids.”

“Well, our dad took that a step further by wanting nothing to do with what he considered a blighted child,” Nico told them. “I was sixteen Years old the last Time I saw and actually spoke to him.”

“And you’re thirty-nine now, unless I did my math wrong,” the front man mused.

“Exactly. Twenty-three long Years, and the one Time I saw him since when I went back to Italy for my grandmother’s funeral, I acted like I didn’t even know who he was,” the next-to-oldest brother said with a nod.

None of the blondes could imagine having that poor of a relationship with any of their fathers, but they could understand why he’d feel that way.

“I’ve been more of a father to Aria her entire Life, just like my brothers’ve been,” he continued. “So, not only do I look out for her the way a brother should, but from a father’s perspective, too.”

“Having kids of your own just addsta that, I’m sure,” the guitarist said.

“I won’t deny that any more than Tony or Orion would,” Nico chuckled.

“What about Jonas, though?” Rikki queried. “Does he even remember your dad?”

“Barely since he was five when the bastard took off,” the next-to-oldest answered. “But he remembers enough that it took me and both our other brothersta hold him back from laying him out at our grandmother’s funeral.”

Even CC winced at the Thought.

“Then again, _he_ was sixteen then, so the hormones were already getting to him,” Nico chuckled.

“Yeah, I imagine that’d only worsen anything he felt toward him,” Bret agreed.

With their questions pretty much answered since he wasn’t going any more in-depth than that, he said they oughta head back inside. It wouldn’t be long before they were setting up for the group’s _Ostara_ Ritual, which only the youngest kids wouldn’t be participating in, as far as he knew. They were either infants or toddlers, so they wouldn’t be able to stay up long enough, nor would they be able to pay attention for long before they started getting bored and cranky.

Nodding their agreement, none of them tried to argue with him since they knew this was a sore topic for his family. Besides, even Bobby wouldn’t deny that he was more curious about this Ritual than anything else since he’d never witnessed such a thing. Other than the Ritual sex that’d been mentioned earlier, he didn’t know what all a Ritual entailed, but he wanted to find out.

After everyone’d partaken of the _Ostara_ dinner that’d been prepared, mothers worked on putting children to bed after they’d been given baths. While they were busy with that, their menfolk teamed up to move the massive group Altar down to the Circular area that the driveway more or less bent around as it started up the Hill to the garage. It was what’d been declared their Sacred Space, which they said was more or less their equivalent of a church. That was where they went for both group _and_ solo Rituals, ’cuz it was the only spot that was big enough for the entire family, if it happened to be for something like tonight.

Even Poison got in on helping them move their supplies since there were a lotta things that’d to be taken down to their Sacred Circle. In addition to the Altar itself, there were at least a couple different chests of Ritual supplies, and those chests weren’t light. They were made of solid Oak, which woulda made them pretty heavy, even when they _weren’t_ fully loaded. Not only that, but even the Cauldron that _hadn’t_ been packed into either of those chests was heavy in its own right, ’cuz it was made of solid Cast Iron.

“Jesus Christ, this thing’s heavy!” Rikki groaned, following the quartet of brothers as they worked together.

“Can’t say ya weren’t warned, man!” Jonas chuckled breathlessly.

“Yeah, that’s true enough, but jeez!” he retorted. “I didn’t think it was gonna be like picking up a frickin’ bass drum in its road case!”

“I think we’ll take your word for it,” Tony told him. “Not like any of us’ve picked up such a thing before.”

“I only did it, ’cuz my roadie got sick while we were on tour,” the drummer explained. “Didn’t trust the others with my shit, so I just jumped in and did it, myself.”

“Sounds like you’ve plenty of experience with hefting up a bass drum, whether it’s in its road case or not,” Nico mused as they finally got to the first set of stairs that led to their Sacred Circle.

“Got a good grip?” Orion queried as they paused for a few momentsta catch their breath.

“Gimme a second,” the others chorused, letting Rikki and the rest of his band head down ahead of them.

“All right, on three,” Tony said as they hefted the Altar back up.

“Watch your step, lil brother,” the next-to-oldest warned since he and Jonas were walking backward.

“I am, I am,” the latter of that pair assured him.

Within a few short minutes, they’d gotten the Altar down to their Sacred Circle, where they’d one last thing to take care of. As they set it down in the Center of the Circle, they made sure the fifth point looked like an arrow pointing between two of the sets of lines within the Circle that made a sorta cross. The oldest brother double-checked their measurements, nodding as he assured himself that that Star point was, indeed facing North.

Bobby and the rest of his band watched with great interest as the brothers started unpacking the contents of the chests they’d hauled down for them. Having settled the Cauldron in the Center of their Altar as instructed, even his drummer was able to stand back and watch. And none of them could say that while curious, they were definitely confused about some things that were pulled out.

Settling several Candles around various points of the Altar, the brothers explained what they were doing as they went. Four of the Candles were representative of the Four Elements, which was why they were in specific Colors of the Rainbow. And each of those Elements ruled a specific Direction on the Compass, which was why they were settled in specific places. In addition to those were four more Candles that also had their own specific places on the Altar, their meanings completely different since they represented different things.

It was said that the white Candle represented Spirit and positivity, the black Candle represented the Ancestors and Banishment of negativity. The Silver Candle was meant to represent the Goddess, while the Gold Candle was meant to represent the God. Given that the Cauldron was in the dead Center of the Altar, they followed almost the same placement as the Elemental Candles. The Goddess Candle was just below the Earth Candle, the God Candle just above the Fire Candle so they were Balanced. Just to the left of the Air Candle was the Spirit Candle so that it was on the right side of the Altar, the Ancestor Candle just to the right of the Water Candle. Again, that was done to maintain a specific Balance, which was an integral part of Paganism, according to them.

Between the Earth and Air Candles, Nico settled a lil bowl of Dirt, which he said was also representative of the Earth Element. Across from it between the Earth and Water Candles, he settled what looked like a Medieval wine glass, which he said was referred to as a Chalice. The next thing he produced was a stick that was capped off by a pointed Stone on one End, a rounded one on the other, that he said was a Wand and laid between the Air and Fire Candles. Finally, he produced a black-handled knife that he called an Athame, which was laid between the Fire and Water Candles. Both those objects were turned so their pointed Ends faced the top of the Altar, which he said was typical of their setup.

“So, what the hell’re they used for?” CC queried. “’Cuz I’ll admit thatcha pulling that knife out freaked me out a bit.”

“Energy Direction,” Tony chuckled. “The Athame’s dull since it’s not used for cutting anything.”

“It’s not?” the bassist asked curiously.

“No, it’s not–the Boline’s what’s used for Ritual cutting,” he answered, holding up a different knife that’d a white handle and curved blade.

“But we’re not gonna be using it tonight, ’cuz we’ve already cut anything that needed to be,” Nico assured them. “Herbs, cordage, and the like–we took care of that earlier to save us Time now.”

“I guess that makes sense,” Bret mused, a thoughtful look on his face.

“I’m prolly more curious about where everyone’s gonna be sitting or standing,” the drummer admitted. “’Cuz this is a pretty big Circle and all, but there’s a lotta people.”

“There’s eight specific spots that’re gonna be filled,” Orion said. “High Priestess and Priest, Maiden, and Summoner are the first four.”

“Besom-keeper, Staff-bearer, Sword-bearer, and Cauldron-keeper are the second set of four,” the oldest brother continued.

“Wait, what’re the first four supposed to be?” Rikki queried.

“Think of the High Priestess and Priest like a minister in a Christian church,” he answered. “They’re the leaders of our Coven.”

“The Maiden’s the next most powerful female who’s also the youngest outta that grouping,” Jonas told them. “The Summoner’s the one who does just that–Summons and Banishes various Spirits based on the Coven’s Ritual and needs.”

“The second group of four are the ones who hold on to certain other Tools within the bounds of the Circle that can’t fit on an Altar,” the next-to-oldest concluded with a chuckle.

None of them got a chanceta ask what he meant before the rest of the group was spotted coming down the stairs that led to the driveway. Each of them–male and female alike–wore some kinda hooded cloak, those hoods pulled over their heads so they obscured their faces. The only one they could tell apart from the others was Aria, and that was simply ’cuz she was so much shorter than everyone else.

The quartet of brothers excused themselvesta the house while the rest of their Coven waited outside the bounds of the Circle. Cali called the four young men who were gonna be watching over to her, making sure they didn’t leave the bounds of the Circle any more than she crossed it just yet. Her voice was stern as she said that they were to stay within said Circle during the Ritual for their own Protection, leaving no room for argument on the matter. She said that a lotta Energy wasta be stirred up, just like always during such a Time, and she didn’t want any of them getting hurt. A lotta different things that were oft unseen could attack when the Coven was powerlessta stop it due to physical and Energetic confines.

Audibly gulping, even Bobby was quick to agree to staying within the Circle, if she thought that was the safest place for them. Still, he couldn’t help but reach up to clutch the cross pendant on one of his necklaces, which was a familiar gesture to the Witches. He certainly hoped that everyone came outta this Ritual unscathed as the Mancini brothers Returned, now dressed in hooded cloaks of their own. God only knew that he wanted to live to see another Sunrise, not to mention go back home and even see his own family again.

With the entirety of their Coven now within the bounds of their Sacred Circle, the first step to their Ritual Began. All four band members watched as they all pulled what turned out to be Ceremonial robes over their heads, leaving them in naught but their bare skin. The bassist’s eyes widened as he watched Aria help fold said robes up so they could be laid aside for the Time being, her brothers each lighting one of the tiki torches that marked each of the Cardinal Directions around the Circle. But he kept quiet as Tony and their mother moved into what he’d pointed out as the High Priestess’ and High Priest’s spots, said girlfriend and Jonas moving to that of the Maiden and Summoner.

Gina moved to the position of Besom-keeper, a handmade broom with a rounded End, rather than a flat one in her hands. Orion moved to where they’d said the Staff-bearer stood, what looked like a walking stick clutched in his hands. Surprisingly, it was Nico who moved to the position of Sword-bearer, a literal Sword held by its hilt in his own hands. Finally, the next-to-oldest’s wife–Rialta–moved to the position of Cauldron-bearer with a far lighter Cauldron cradled in her hands.

Once the kids who were partaking all formed a ring around them, their linked hands forming another Circle, it was Cali who took the lead as a physical embodiment of the Goddess.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For anybody who's curious, check the Wattpad posting of this chapter for a pic that depicts the Altar/Circle setup I mentioned in this chapter!  
> ~Firefly


	12. Twelve

During the _Ostara_ Ritual they’d been invited to watch, none of Poison could deny that there was a shift in the very Air that surrounded them that they’d never felt before. It felt kinda Light and almost playful in a way, but there was a seriousness that hadn’t even been present in the studio when they were recording both their albums. But all of them also agreed that there was a certain tension that accompanied the seriousness, which felt thick enough to be cut with a knife.

Time seemed to both fly by and stand still all at the same Time as the Coven before them worked their way through their Ritual. Bobby couldn’t help squirming slightly, ignoring what a turn-on it wasta see his girlfriend cloaked by naught but the glow of the torches at the boundary of the Circle. Of course, that was in addition to the small Fire that’d been lit in the Cauldron at the Center of their Altar.

After what’d seemed like half the Night, yet only a few minutes, the quartet at the helm were wrapping up the Ritual. Once that’d been done, they moved to find their chosen partners for the next step–enacting the _Great Rite_. Naturally, Tony moved to wrap his arms around his wife, Gina more than enthusiastic about Returning the kiss he gave her. Jonas and his girlfriend–Miranda–were much the same way, Aria grinning downright wickedly as she moved toward her boyfriend. But he wasn’t surprised by that any more than he was by watching Nico and Rialta move into their own lover’s embrace. In fact, he’d made what he knew his friends’d find to be a surprising decision on the drive up from Burbank.

Rikki, Bret, and CC were all more than a bit surprised when their friend rose as gracefully as a Cat, a bit of a predatory look in his eyes as he wrapped his arms around his girlfriend. Even still, they couldn’t help but watch as he hefted her up so she could wrap her limbs around him, which put her more on his level. If anything, they couldn’t believe that he was actually joining in on this part of the Pagan worship, ’cuz he swore he _hated_ having sex with prying eyes around. But they were all about to get an even bigger surprise in just a few moments that none of them’d even thought to suspect.

“What the–” The drummer yelped as a young woman introduced as Tony’s daughter, Celestina, pulled him up to his feet.

“What–don’t wanna join in on the fun?” she chuckled, her grin just as wicked as her aunt’s.

“I, uh…” Rikki wasn’t quite sure how to answer that, especially when her dad glanced over at them.

“You’re hot, I’m of age, and I’d prefer joining in on the fun,” the young woman told him.

“Hey, I’m not one to stop my headstrong daughter from going after what she wants,” Tony laughed from across the Circle. “Ya just better not hurt her, or I’ll annihilatecha as much as I will Bobby, if he hurts my sister.”

“You’re seriously cool with your daughter having a one-Night stand right in front of ya?” He couldn’t help his surprise as he processed that.

“She’s twenty-three, so she’s as grown as the rest of us.” The giant of a man shrugged, his arms still wrapped around his wife. “She hasn’t lemme have a say in who she slept with, as long as they didn’t share blood, since she was sixteen.”

“And I’m not starting now,” Celestina said firmly.

“Means you’re the only one who’s to make up your mind, kid,” he chuckled. “We’re not gonna force ya, if ya really don’t wanna, but I won’t deny that it’s a fuck-ton of fun.”

Rikki wasn’t exactly sure, but glancing over to where his friend was already half-stripped and seemingly lost in his own lil World finally convinced him. God only knew that if the bassist could get so into it, he could forget that there was an entire group around him, it couldn’t possibly be a bad thing. Said bassist was the one who typically had _performance issues_ just from having a stuffed Animal or something sitting on a shelf across the room, after all.

And Bobby was definitely lost in his own lil World, completely ignoring the goings-on around him as he allowed his girlfriend to all but literally rip his clothes off. In fact, it wasn’t long before he found himself stripped as nekkid as the Day he was born and flat on his back on a towel she’d spread out at one point or another.

Quickly glancing around as Aria got settled in the saddle, so to speak, he realized that all the other couples–which now included Celestina and the drummer–were in an identical position. He didn’t know much about Paganism, so he suspected there was a reason for such a thing happening. But his girlfriend was quick to distract him from his pondering by lifting herself up and grabbing him by the base of his cock. Nothing but her getting him lined up and sinking down till he was rooted to his pubes mattered, if one didn’t count getting his rocks off, now that he was painfully aroused.

Each of the women gave themselves and their menfolk a few momentsta adjust once they were all bottomed out. Bret and CC watched with wide eyes, neither of them realizing that they were liking what they were seeing more than a lil bit, so to speak. They didn’t make this kinda thing a habit, but it was more than a lil interesting to see at least one other couple get their funk on like this.

Cali chuckled as she joined the pair of blondes, all three of them watching as the other women slowly started to ride their menfolk. She was the only one who knew exactly what wasta happen, but she knew that even these two’d soon feel yet another Energetic shift. Once they were ready, the women were gonna unleash something called _Sex magick_ on the men they were riding. That’d allow them to not only magnify the pleasure all of them felt in a physical sense, but cast their own personal spells in a very unique way. After all, unless while making use of that very powerful, very specific type of magick, one didn’t normally cast spells with their orgasms. That was usually done during the kinda Ritual that they’d just performed as a group, if one was doing a solo or couple’s Ritual.

It wasn’t long before all of the menfolk who were being ridden let out a collective gasp, Bobby’s being the loudest. He didn’t know what the tiny woman was doing to him as she Began to ride him in earnest, her hands touching every part of him they could possibly reach. All he knew was that somehow, the sex felt even better than it normally did when they crawled into bed together. To be quite honest, he felt even more desperate than he’d felt the first Night they’d slept together, even though he got laid pretty regularly these Days. Not only that, but it felt like his orgasm was building even faster and harder than normal, but like it’d also been push on a leash.

“Holy…fuckin’…shit!” he panted, groaning as he tipped his head back against the ground.

“That’s it, my Shadow Wolf,” Aria mewled. “Give it to me–let loose and howl at the Waxing Moon for me like the Wolf ya are deep inside.”

 _“Arrrrgggghhhh!”_ the bassist cried, slamming into her so hard that he damn near bucked her off him.

She let out a shriek of her own as that set off her orgasm, the pulsing of his shaft within her depths only dragging it out.

“Sweet Goddess alive, fuck me!” Bobby groaned, feeling like his orgasm was Endless.

The tiny woman only mewled, finally flopping atop him in a breathless heap.

After taking a few momentsta catch his breath as the others wound up in similar positions, he finally lifted his head as much as he could. “Ya all right, my lil Shadow kitten?”

 _“Mmm hmm,”_ Aria hummed, a Dreamy tone coloring her voice. “More than all right.”

“Fuck, that was–there’re no words, sweetheart,” the bassist chuckled, gently rubbing her back.

“That’s _Sex magick_ for ya,” she told him, unable to help a shiver and bucking with an aftershock due to that gentle touch.

 _“Sex magick?”_ Bobby queried, unable to quell his curious confusion, even as he throbbed and bucked with an aftershock of his own.

“I’ll explain it later,” the tiny woman promised. “Gotta get my wits back so it even makes senseta me, let alone anyone else.”

“I can live with that,” he agreed, pulling her further up his chest once he finally softened just enough to slip outta her. “’Cuz I’m more than a lil fuzzy-brained now, myself.”

“One of the side effects, unfortunately,” Aria giggled, ducking her head to give him a gentle kiss.

The bassist hummed happily, more than glad to Return that kiss as he wrapped his arms around her again. He’d be the first one to admit that it was a lil weird to go at it with so many prying eyes–two sets being those of his friends–but it was definitely a new experience for him. In fact, he felt so sensitive and tingly from his scalp to the bottoms of his feet that he almost wanted to go at it again already.

Finally able to sit up without feeling like his entire body was made of Jello, Bobby saw that all the other couples who’d enacted the _Great Rite_ looked just as dazed as he felt. Course, it appeared that they were recovering a lot faster, just like his girlfriend was, but he supposed that was normal for them. If this was something they did every Year during _Ostara_ and _Beltane,_ they’d no doubt experienced this before. Then again, for all he knew, maybe they experienced this kinda intensity on a regular basis from having it happen, even when it _wasn’t_ in celebration of a Sabbat.

Realizing that even Rikki’d gotten dragged into the fun made him chuckle under his breath as he managed to get to his feet. As he found his balance so he could start grabbing his clothes, he couldn’t help but be amused by the look on his friend’s face. The poor guy looked so dazed, he’d have sworn he was high on something, if he hadn’t known any better. But he knew for a fact that he hadn’t even imbibed so much as alcohol before now, let alone anything like smack.

Once the entire group was upright, all the Witches adorned in their Ceremonial robes again, they started working together to get the Circle broken down again. Bret and CC were the only ones who didn’t help with this part, ’cuz they’d already headed into the house. The bassist’d a feeling that they were feeling more than a lil needy now, considering what they’d just witnessed. But as long as they didn’t do anything such as committing rape, he supposed that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. They’d gotten a taste of Paganism and what it was _really_ about, just like he’d done, and no doubt they were starting to realize that it wasn’t a wholly bad religion.

“I dunno ’bout you, but I’m too tired to even bother with a shower now,” Aria said, unable to help a yawn as they headed up those exterior stairsta the area over the garage.

“Fuck that shit,” he chuckled, letting out a yawn of his own. “If I stop moving for pretty much anything right now, you’re not getting me in motion again before tomorrow Morn.”

“Good thing Tony already hid all your keys, ain’t it?” the tiny woman snickered.

“Definitely, ’cuz I’m in no shape to drive,” Bobby said. “And from the look on his face when I glanced over at him, neither is Rikki.”

“Oh, he’s definitely not,” she told him. “Hell, he’s prolly deep into something called subspace.”

“Kinda like that _Sex magick_ ya mentioned, I’ll ask about that some other Time– _if_ I even remember to,” the bassist laughed. “’Cuz I doubt much of anything’s gonna make any sense for a while.”

“Prolly not,” Aria agreed. “You’re as good as smacked-out right now, just on your own endorphins instead of any kinda drug.”

“That certainly explains feeling kinda high,” he mused.

“It’ll get better as Time passes,” the tiny woman assured him. “And getting some rest’ll help with that.”

“Then off to bed we go, and not for more shenanigans,” Bobby yawned.

Unable to help a giggle, she crawled onto her bed so she was the one up against the wall since it’d be easier for her to crawl over him, if need be. At least they already knew that even if she momentarily collapsed atop him, she wouldn’t do worse than knock the Wind outta her boyfriend. On the other hand, if _he_ were to collapse atop _her,_ he might do some serious damage since he weighed a lot more.

Once they were settled so that he was spooning her, the bassist reached back behind him to turn off the lamp on her nightstand. He sighed contently as he turned back to face her, his arm wrapping around her tiny waist as he settled down completely. There wasn’t anything on the Planet that could top tonight unless he got invited to join in on their _Beltane_ celebration in about six weeks. Nothing’d ever felt quite like the sex tonight, and he doubted anything else but getting _Sex magick_ unleashed on him again ever would.

Around eight the next Morn, Bobby surprised himself by being the first one in the entire houseta be up and about. Given what he’d partaken in the Night previous and how he’d felt upon going to bed, he’d been sure that he’d sleep till Noon. For that matter, he’d all but banked on sleeping till well after then, as exhausted as he’d felt upon settling into his girlfriend’s bed.

What surprised him even more than that, though, was that Rikki was the next one up and able to find his way to the kitchen on his own. His friend looked as exhausted, yet wired as he still felt himself, like he could climb Mount Everest without any gear. The poor guy still looked more than a lil dazed, though, but he supposed that was normal since his girlfriend still hadn’t explained anything to him. God knew he’d find out for sure once she woke up, if her mother or one of her brothers didn’t get up before her and explain it, themselves.

Luckily for the two musicians, the bassist’d been here on the weekends enough to know where everything was kept in the kitchen and pantry both. He’d already started on a pot of coffee after pulling on his rumpled clothes and padding downstairs a few short minutes ago. It was for that reason that he was soon pulling out a pair of coffee mugs, which he filled to the brims with the Dark, bitter liquid he knew they were both in sore need of.

“Thanks, man,” the drummer said, sounding like he was growling from not being fully awake yet.

“Don’t mention it,” Bobby responded, joining him at the breakfast nook table.

“We the only ones up?” he queried, pausing to blow on his mug to cool it enough to take the first sip so he wouldn’t scald his mouth.

“Yeah, we are.” The bassist nodded as he blew on his own mug. “Not even Aria’s up yet, unless she woke up after I came down here.”

“At leastcha know your way around their house,” Rikki chuckled. “I thought I was gonna twist my arms behind my back and break my neck trying to figure out how to get outta wherever the hell I wound up.”

“Didja come down a staircase that Changed Directions on ya?” he queried.

“Yeah, ’cuz it was the only one I saw next to the lil half-wall that turned out to overlook the living room,” the drummer answered, nodding.

“It’s not the only one in the house–that’s why I asked,” Bobby told him with a chuckle of his own.

“It’s not?” His brows furrowed as he took another sip of his coffee.

“There’s another, straight one over there across from the courtyard door,” the bassist answered, pointing toward where the hallway opened into the family room. “It’s closer to where ya gotta go to get to Aria’s room, so that’s the one I came down.”

Nodding, Rikki said that he wouldn’t be surprised, if it took a while for everybody else who was still here to start getting up. He knew for a fact that the other half of their band was still here and asleep–he’d seen them sleeping on a pair of couches in the loft right outside the bedroom he’d wound up in. While he wasn’t sure about any of the Mancini brothers and their families, he _was_ pretty sure that the family matriarch was also still here.

Bobby Returned the nod as he said that his girlfriend and her mother were the only ones who lived here full-Time. From what they’d told him, Cali hadn’t wanted such a big houseta be flashy or anything of that Nature when she’d bought this place. With a family as big as hers, no doubt she needed a lotta room for when her sons and their families came over to visit. And that wasn’t counting the Times that said sons and their wives needed a break from their kids, so they’d sent said kidsta Grama’s house for the weekend to relax and recharge or something.

The drummer nodded as he agreed that he certainly had a point, but he’d one of his own when he said that she coulda picked a less confusing houseta buy. Maybe one that looked like most other houses they’d seen and only had a single staircase, for instance. Otherwise, maybe just one that didn’t have so many Blessed hallwaysta navigate that’d twice as many doors down each one.

“I feel ya, man,” he chuckled. “I’ve felt that way ever since the first Time I came here on _Samhain,_ even though I know my way around the place now.”

“It’s definitely not as simple as _your_ house, that’s for sure,” Rikki laughed.

“Well, ya know what a simple guy I am at heart,” the bassist told him. “Only reason I dress flashy for the photo shoots and shit’s to make sure we stay right in people’s faces.”

“Speaking of, we gotta come up with something for the cover and sleeve of this album,” he mused.

“I’ve been mulling over ideas, but there’s one I don’t wanna do unless it’s a last resort,” Bobby sighed.

“And what’s that idea?” the drummer queried, cocking a brow curiously.

“Getting me to help ya out with that.”

Turning toward the archway next to that lowered bank of cabinets, they saw a sleepy-eyed Cali joining them in her robe.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” he asked, his brow now furrowed in confusion.

“I’ma fashion designer by trade,” the family matriarch chuckled. “It didn’t happen till Aria came along, and more so outta necessity than ’cuz it was any particular Dream of mine.”

“Wow, really?” Rikki’s eyes widened in Awe.

“Well, you’ve seen how tiny my daughter is, even now,” she said as she poured her own mug. “It’s never been easy finding clothes that fit her and _weren’t_ covered in designs better suited to babies and lil kids.”

“Fair enough,” the drummer said, nodding.

“To that End, I started making her clothes so she’d have more mature designs in sizes that actually fit her,” Cali explained. “It turned into a small business when word started getting out, and that’s what eventually led to us moving out here from Tennessee.”

He couldn’t help a laugh as he remarked on how that explained the tiny woman sounding more like a country hick than she didn’t, which’d stumped him ever since he’d met her. But at the same Time, he could understand why Bobby wouldn’t wanna go with that idea unless it was a last resort. No doubt she already had a lot on her plate, and he’d prolly feel like he was exploiting his connection to her, even if she didn’t.

The family matriarch waved off such concerns as she joined them in the breakfast nook, quick to tell them that even designing something for the other half of her band wouldn’t be any trouble to her. Whether she got paid for the endeavor or not, it could be a better thing for her than not once word got out that she’d been the designer behind whatever they wound up wearing.

Rikki’s lips pursed as he thought about that, and he’d to admit that it was certainly an idea that’d some merit to it. All four of them’d no doubt wind up in something that’d make them stand out just as much as the cover of their debut album, which’d be good for them. Once folks started finding out who’d designed those clothes, she’d no doubt get even more business than she already had, which’d make her a lot more money. When it was all said and done, it could definitely be a win-win situation, but even _he_ didn’t wanna take advantage of her like that.

“It’s not taking advantage, if I’m offering,” Cali chuckled after taking another sip of her mug.

“True, but we’d rather not do that unless we have to,” the bassist told her. “And definitely not ’cuz we’d to actually _ask,_ if at all possible.”

“Kinda like we didn’t _ask_ Aria to contribute to this album–she just did it ’cuz she wanted to,” his friend said.

“Oh–and how’d she do that?” she queried curiously.

“She started writing a song, ’cuz she got Inspired by–ahem, personal shenanigans,” Bobby answered, his face turning pink. “When she got stuck, she showed me what lil she had, and I wound up helping her finish it.”

“They were jamming on it one Day when the others and I got to the studio,” the drummer continued. “We liked it so much that she Ended up giving us the rightsta it, ’cuz she knew she’d never do anything with it in the sense of recording it and putting out a record.”

“Sounds like something my daughter’d do,” she laughed.

“Well, now that song’s on the record we’ve got in mastering,” Rikki told her. “You’ll hear it eventually, ’cuz even Bret’s not stupid enough to argue inviting her to the listening party we’re gonna have once it’s completely done.”

“And as far as I’m concerned, that means even her family’s invited,” the bassist said. “Well, maybe not the youngest ones, just ’cuz of things like bedtime and all that.”

Nodding, Cali agreed that even if they _were_ invited to such a thing, her youngest grandchildren prolly still wouldn’t be in attendance. He’d a point in saying that constraints like bedtime and school’d prevent them from being able to, if their parents didn’t make an exception. She doubted that’d happen, though, ’cuz if there was one thing her boys were strict and unbending on, it was their kids’ education.

It wasn’t long before everyone else started coming down from wherever they’d wound up sleeping for the Morn. Whether it was one-by-one or in clusters, the kitchen, family room, and entertainment area on the other side of the fireplace were all soon full to bursting. But that just meant that the pair of still-dazed musicians’d soon get the explanation they were still waiting for. They just had to wait for those who were gonna give it to wake up a lil more, which wouldn’t happen till they’d all gotten at least half a mug of coffee in them.

Once they were all awake and capable of stringing together coherent sentences, Aria started explaining why they were still feeling so dazed. Just as its name suggested, _Sex magick_ drew on the Energy that was stirred up by the act that Created and recreated all Life. However, it was some incredibly powerful and potent shit, so only the most experienced Witches’d even heard about, let alone actually employed it in their practice.

They listened Intently as she explained that the dazed feeling they were still experiencing was from something called subspace. It was an altered state of Consciousness usually brought on by erotic goings-on, whether it actually involved sex or not. While one was in that state, they pretty much lost the ability to Communicate their wants and needs as their cognitive function Waned. For that reason, their partner’d to pay damn good attention to them and their body language, ’cuz that’d tell them just as much as verbal Communication would. Luckily for the rhythm section of Poison, the women they’d wound up paired with for one reason or another were damn good at doing just that. Even Celestina’d been able to figure out what was necessary past the point of no Return, ’cuz she’d that happen before.

However, the tiny woman made it pretty clear that unless they’d something extremely pressing to do, Bobby and Rikki were best off staying here for a week or so. Coming down from the high they’d achieved the Night previous was gonna take some Time, whether they liked it or not. She didn’t wanna see them lose their shit due to some of the more notorious side effects of subspace and not have anyone to help them through it. Not only that, but she said it was best that those who’d put them in that state–herself and her niece–be the onesta help bring them down. Her brothers and sisters-in-law all nodding their agreement was what made them agree to that particular plan, though.

Still, they couldn’t help sharing a look with each other as they wondered exactly what they’d gotten themselves–and even their Melody section–into with last Night’s shenanigans.


	13. Thirteen

For the entirety of the Day immediately after _Ostara,_ even Bret and CC didn’t think their rhythm section was doing half-bad, considering how they’d been put through the wringer. Sure, they thought said guys seemed sleepy and high, yet somehow wired enough to run for a week straight without slowing down, let alone stopping. But they were quickly told by Tony that that was typical behavior for coming down from the high they’d gotten, as was a completely different scenario.

Two Days after _Ostara_ –which’d fallen on a Sun’s Day and meant that the current Day was Týr’s Day–things Changed drastically. Having not wanted to abandon their friends in the slightest since they were basically getting the week off, the band’s Melody section’d decided to stay up North in Santa Clarita with them. For that reason, they were the first two up on that second Morn when they headed down to the kitchen for their wake-up juice–or so they thought. The shorter pair of blondes were in for a surprise they weren’t expecting, and definitely didn’t know how to handle–not even in their wildest Dreams, which could get pretty wild sometimes.

Curled up on the Love seat that sat perpendicular to the family room fireplace on the other side of the breakfast bar, Bobby looked like he was far from okay. Neither of them could see Rikki’s face from this angle, but they were pretty sure he wasn’t faring any better, either. Judging by how his shoulders jerked every few seconds, they were pretty sure even _he_ was crying hard enough to choke himself.

Sure enough, walking around to where they could see both of them revealed that even the drummer’d tears running down his face. Bret shot a look at his shortest band mate as he settled next to their bassist, who sniffled so hard that he literally snorted. Said midget shrugged, his expression marred with concern, as he settled next to the tallest blonde and gently rubbed his back. Having never seen this happen to anyone else, least of all their friends, they were both at a loss as to what to do to help Calm them down so they could breathe.

“Bobby, what on Earth’s wrong with ya?” the front man queried. “Ya never act like this.”

“I–I–I–” Bobby couldn’t even get a real sentence out before he burst into tears all over again.

That seemed to set Rikki off, ’cuz he followed suit without even trying to speak.

“Jesus Christ,” CC breathed. “I’ve never seen anybody act like this unless they were a lil kid!”

“Me, either, man,” he agreed. “And for once in my Life, I dunno what the fuck to do.”

“Good thing we do.”

Looking over at the high-pitched, squeaky voice, Bret couldn’t have been more relieved to see a sleepy-eyed Aria and her equally sleepy niece.

“C’mere, you,” said niece murmured, dragging the drummer into a tight embrace.

The front man gladly scooted over when the tiny woman made to crawl up between him and his friend. “The fuck’s wrong with these two? They never act like this.”

“Part of subspace, unfortunately,” she answered, letting out a soft _Oof!_ when pulling her boyfriend against her knocked her backward into him.

“I’m kinda scared to ask, but at the same Time, I feel like I _gotta_ know,” the guitarist admitted.

“This part’s called _sub-drop,”_ Celestina explained, drawing both their attention to her. “It’s what happens when one’s coming down from the high they get from whatever threw ’em into to subspace in the first place.”

“Seriously?” Bret’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Yeah, it is,” she answered, nodding. “Daddy knows more than I do, so I could prolly give him a call and get him to come over.”

“That might be for the best since we need to focus on these two,” Aria told her. “He can explain it while we’re working on getting ’em Calmed down before they gag ’emselves.”

Nodding, her niece managed to get Rikki to look up at her so they were making eye contact, her hands gently framing his face. She made sure he was listening as she said that she needed to leave for a couple minutes, but promised she’d be back. His friends didn’t miss how yet more tears welled up in his eyes, but at least he didn’t burst into sobs again as he nodded jerkily.

Celestina headed over to her aunt’s shortened bank of cabinets, which was where the kitchen extension of the telephone lived so she could reach it when she needed to. She made sure that she stayed where the drummer could still see her, if he happened to turn around–which he did. At least having her in his sights kept him from breaking down again as he sniffled and reached up to wipe at his face, which turned a Light shade of pink. His friends almost woulda sworn that he was embarrassed by their seeing him like this, but they weren’t too sure what was going through his mind right now.

Following a barrage of what was obviously a foreign language, the young woman detoured from Returning immediately by starting a pot of coffee for everybody. Other than when she momentarily stepped into the pantry for a fresh can of coffee and to refill their sugar container, she took great care with remaining in everyone else’s sightlight. Both of the shorter blondes got the feeling that that was Intentional on her part, but decided not to ask when the tiny woman cuddling their bassist nodded.

_“Ou eísai, kóri mou?”_

_“Stin kouzína, Bampá!”_ Celestina’s responseta whoever’d called out was in the same language as what she’d used during her phone call, which left the front man and guitarist completely lost.

_“Poia anánki na mou exigíso?”_ her father queried with a chuckle as he headed in their Direction.

_“Ti eínai to ypopedío kai pós boreí na ekdilotheí,”_ the young woman answered, pointing over toward her grandmother’s family room.

“Ah, I can see why,” Tony chuckled, following the trajectory of her finger. “Best that yourself and your aunt focus on the fruit loops for now.”

“We figured you’d agree with that, Daddy,” she said, quickly pouring both hers and her aunt’s mugs.

“Well, let’s get started on the explanation, then,” the oldest Mancini brother laughed, settling on one of the bar stools.

“I think that’d be a good idea, man,” Bret told him. “’Cuz I dunno what’s up with these two, and knowing them like I do, it’s honestly starting to scare me.”

“There’s nothing to be scared of,” he assured even CC. “It’ll take Time, but they’ll get back to normal eventually.”

“Which’s why I said it was prolly better at least _they_ stay here for about a week,” Aria broke in, squirming slightly till she was more comfortable where she reclined against the front man’s chest. “I wasn’t sure if this’d happen or not since I’ve never seen either of ’em in subspace, but I knew there was a possibility it might.”

“So, ya were already thinking ahead, is what you’re saying?” the guitarist queried.

Nodding, she admitted that this wasn’t the first Time she’d seen a person react like this after getting hurled into subspace. But not wanting them to get confused, she nodded to her oldest brother to let him know that he’d the floor, so to speak, so he could explain everything to them. It was best that they start at the very Beginning and work their way up, that way the unaffected blondes could form a sorta mental flow map for themselves.

Tony started by reiterating what she’d said about subspace being a form of erotically-altered Consciousness the Night previous. It was akin to its counterpart of Domspace in that it usually happened due to erotic goings-on, but not necessarily out-and-out sex. Most of the Time, it actually happened during something he called a _scene_ as a part of the BDSM Lifestyle.

Bret’s and CC’s eyes widened as he explained that like Aria’d also said, one tended to lose their ability to Communicate due to diminished cognitive function. Whoever was Dominating them during that Time took on the role of figuring out what they wanted and needed by reading their body language more than anything else. That Top or Dom also became the Center focus of whoever was in subspace–which happened to be their rhythm section this Time. It wasn’t about whether one was male or female–it was about how they were Dominated, and how far they were pushed by their Top. _Sex magick_ oft pushed folks beyond what they were used to, which was why it could trigger this mental state.

Once assured that they were still following relatively well, the oldest Mancini brother moved on to explaining what happened _after_ subspace. This part was commonly referred to as _Dom-drop, sub-drop,_ and _post-scene plunge,_ but it was the same thing, no matter what it was called. It could happen to Top and bottom alike, regardless of their gender, and it took on a lotta the same characteristics, either way. And judging by what he was seeing for himself, Bobby and Rikki were both having a bad drop that’d be even worse, if they’d gone back to the Los Angeles area.

“The basic gist’s that it’s some pretty negative feelings that’re clouding their minds right now,” Tony explained.

“Like what, exactly?” the front man queried.

“Let-down, depression, Fear, disgust, remorse–those’re usually the biggest ones after any kinda true scene,” he answered. “Abandonment’s another big one that I’ve seen.”

Bret and his guitarist both winced at the Thought of their friends feeling like that.

“It doesn’t always happen, but it can,” the oldest brother continued. “Just like one sub might react differently than another while they’re getting through their drop.”

“How so?” Even though there was a part of him that wouldn’t ever try anything that’d lead to this, he couldn’t help but find it fascinating.

“Well, the few Times that I sub for demo purposes in BDSM, I prefer to be left alone after the scene’s over,” Tony chuckled. “Just gimme my favorite fuzzy blanket and leave me completely by myself in a dim, quiet room, and I’m good.”

“I’m guessing you’re able to bring yourself down without any help?” CC queried curiously.

“More or less.” He nodded as he shifted in his seat. “Most Times, I just fall asleep for a nap and sleep it off kinda like with drinking.”

Both blondes couldn’t help cracking up, even their friends managing soft chuckles.

“Others just want their Tops within sight while they’re curled up with those fuzzy blankets, their favorite stuffed Animal, etc.,” the oldest brother continued. “Just being able to see them’s enough to keep them from losing their shit.”

Front man and guitarist alike both nodded and waited for him to continue.

“Then there’re others who’ve to have almost constant physical contact with their Top,” Tony said. “Doesn’t necessarily _have_ to be nekkid cuddling, although I’ll admit that’s the best option. It can be hugs and general cuddling, hand-holding–just about _any_ kinda reassuring touch that reminds them that their Top’s there and not leaving them for shit.”

Bret and CC both shared a look as they processed that.

“From what I’m seeing, your friends both fall into that third group,” he sighed. “They _need_ to be able to get that physical touch from whoever sent them hurtling into subspace–my sister and daughter, respectively, in this case–or they won’t recover properly.”

“I’m almost terrified to ask why they wouldn’t,” the guitarist admitted.

The oldest brother’s expression was serious as he explained what he’d witnessed after both scenes that he’d participated in and simply DM’d for others. He said that when a sub fell into that third group and reacted the way that Bobby and Rikki were, it was almost like having a short, temporary mental break. Being able to get to the Top that put them in that state helped by Grounding them into Reality, and reassuring them that they’d be taken care of at their most vulnerable short of being asleep or whacked-out on some kinda drug.

If a sub in that state _couldn’t_ get what they needed from their Top–which varied from one sub to the next–it could be bad in several different ways. Most commonly, it’d instill a deep-rooted sense of distrust in the person that’d affect other relationships, not just their play partnership. He’d seen everything up to and including marriages fall apart from the sub not trusting their partner to be there when they needed them the most as a result of sub-drop gone awry.

Looking between their cuddling, half-asleep friends, it wasn’t hard for Bret and CC to finish putting the puzzle pieces together, as it were. Aria hadn’t wanted them to stay ’cuz she was trying to be too Domineering, or anything even remotely closeta that. She’d known that they might very well have this kinda reaction, so she’d just been looking out for their best interests. It was better that they be close at hand, if they were to have this kinda reaction, so that she and Celestina could start helping them work through their drop and get back to normal quicker. Once that’d happened, they weren’t gonna try to keep them here, if they really didn’t wanna stay, any more than they would after sobering up.

Both the shorter blondes nodded, glad to know that they’d been looking out for their rhythm section all along, even when it didn’t seem like it. They agreed that even if it took nekkid cuddling to get their heads screwed on straight again, it was for the better. Hopefully, that wouldn’t take too long and they’d come out relatively unscathed, but it was just a waiting game at this point.

Over the course of the next few Days, Bobby and Rikki slowly got their wits about them again and started Returning to their normal Selves. They both took a couple Daysta only need the tiny woman and her niece within eyesight, not constantly cuddling with them, but they were making progress. But during that Time, nobody realized just what was going through the mind of the band’s lone brunette.

He’d found himself with one of their new songs all but on repeat in his head this entire week, and he couldn’t seem to turn it off. The lyrics kept playing in his ears, even when the house was dead Silent, almost as if they were haunting him like an auditory Ghost. But they were also Inspiring him, which was why a week to the Day after getting thrown into subspace, he found himself at the Mancinis’ breakfast nook table. On the Wood in front of him lay a sketch pad he’d found floating around the house, a pencil in his right hand as he hunched over.

To be quite honest, Bobby’d be the first one to admit that he sucked at drawing, but he’d felt the need to at least make an attempt. He’d a vision in mind as a result of his band’s new song haunting him, and he couldn’t get it outta his head any other way. Maybe trying to draw it, no matter how bad the drawing sucked, would actually work as opposed to trying to suppress it. He just hoped that whoever owned these supplies wouldn’t get pissed at him for swiping them, even for a short period of Time.

“So, _that’s_ where my sketch pad went.”

Glancing up, he saw that Cali’d just walked into the kitchen. “Sorry about that–had something in mind, and I didn’t know who it belonged to.”

“Well, what’re ya trying to do?” the family matriarch queried as she settled next to him. “It might be something I’m able to help with.”

“Just an idea that came to mind for what I can wear during the photo shoot for our album’s cover and inner sleeve,” Bobby answered.

“Ya seem to forget that I’ma fashion designer by trade,” she laughed.

“Oh, I haven’t forgotten,” the bassist assured her with a chuckle. “I’m just stubborn and don’t wanna ask ya to help me, if it’s not necessary.”

“From what I’m seeing, ya could really use the help,” Cali said, unable to help a grin. “’Cuz a visual artist, you’re most certainly _not.”_

“I can’t _even_ Begin to disagree there and be telling the Truth,” he laughed. “I fuckin’ suck at drawing anything but stick figures, so a part of me wonders why I even bothered trying.”

“’Cuz you’ll never get any better at it, if ya don’t,” the family matriarch supplied.

“Fair enough,” Bobby agreed, nodding. “Ah, fuck it–I guess getting some help with at least the drawing won’t be that bad.”

With a nod of her own, she scooted her chair a lil closer so she could see what he already had and what she might be able to do with it. From what she could tell thus far, he’d been trying to draw some kinda pants that weren’t jeans, but she couldn’t tell if they were supposed to be straight-leg or boot-cut. It was hard to tell, and for all she knew, they might even be designed almost like a pair of leather britches in the sense of being skin-tight.

The other piece the bassist’d apparently been trying to draw appeared to be some kinda jacket, but she wasn’t entirely sure. Cali doubted it was anything like a leather biker’s jacket, or even a suit jacket, but it’d minimal fringe running down the arms. Other than that, it appeared he’d been shooting for some kinda embroidery down one arm and leg of the britches, but it was impossible to make out.

Bobby laughed as he admitted that it was actually supposed to be a Rose vine running pretty much from shoulder to ankle down _both_ sleeves and pant legs. The vines were also supposed to run down the front lapels so there’d be two Roses on either side of his chest, if the jacket was actually fastened. Much like when he’d talked about the design on the tank top he’d bought her daughter, he said that it’d tie back to his band nicely. He still wouldn’t say how since he wanted it to be a surprise, but at least she was willing to trust him on that.

“Well, let’s try this instead…” The family matriarch took the pencil from him and ripped out what he’d managed so she could use it as a guide.

He couldn’t help his Curiosity as he watched, her hand moving at the speed of Lightning in comparison to his own.

_“Mmm…”_ Cali worked furiously as she drew, erased, and redrew lines till she was satisfied with the basic shape of the jacket and pants.

“That’s definitely looking better than my own attempt,” the bassist chuckled.

“Just gotta get those vines and Roses right,” she murmured absently.

“I’m sure you’ll do better than I did,” Bobby told her, still Awed as he watched.

“Ah, Flowers aren’t exactly my _forte,”_ the family matriarch said. “That’s more of Aria’s thing than mine.”

“Still, it’s gotta be better than the random squiggles _I_ did,” he argued playfully.

“Oh, I’ll admit that I’m at least a _lil_ better than that!” Cali agreed with a laugh.

It took her only a couple minutesta achieve what she’d been shooting for, and there was no denying how good it looked compared to his own attempt. The Roses weren’t quite perfect, but they were actually discernable as some kinda Flower this Time around. And there were even a few leaves scattered along the length of the vinesta show that they _were,_ indeed vines, not just some kinda rope.

Before he could even get out any kinda praise, Aria finally came down from the Morn, and she was Naturally curious about what they were up to. Joining them at the table once she’d made her coffee, she agreed that the design fit his simple personality well. Still, she was just as confused as her mother as to how the Roses tied back to his band, which he still wouldn’t explain to them. However, after getting her mother to redraw the outline of the jacket and pants, she did a far better job on filling in said vines and Roses for them.

Unable to help his grin, Bobby hauled her against one side for a quick kiss, the family matriarch against the other for a hug. He meant what he’d said about _not_ getting the latter to actually make this, if it wasn’t necessary, but at least now he’d something he could actually take to another designer. That was nixed, though, when said would-be mother-in-law insisted that he consider her taking on this project a bit of a gift for looking past her daughter’s stature to who she was at heart.

Not really able to find a good argument against that since they’d made no bones about how rare it wasta have that happen, he finally agreed to let her take on the project. But he’d no Time to really argue over whether she should actually get paid for the endeavor as if he were any other customer, or if it should truly be a gift. Something else that’d been on his mind for the last week was that tabloid cover, ’cuz he wanted to know just how the media’d even gotten that picture of himself and his girlfriend. It was a Mystery he was determined to solve before Poison’s sophomore album hit shelves, if he could manage such a feat.

And the bassist also Intended to issue a warning to the press about plastering his private Life all over their front pages like that again, lest they start a figurative War with him.


	14. Fourteen

Just as he’d pretty much promised himself, the first thing Bobby did upon Returning even as far South as Burbank was corrall his band’s new manager. Vicki’d decided that she wanted out, that they were too much for her to handle, and she’d been replaced by a guy named Howie. Luckily for him, said guy was just as hard-nosed and determined as he and his band mates were, so he was more than glad to help him out with his personal mission.

As he’d Feared ever since seeing that tabloid cover, it turned out that his now-former manager’d found out he was heading out on a date that Day. She’d suspected that he’d gotten involved with Aria not long after introducing them, but hadn’t had any proof one way or the other. It’d been _her_ to sic that paparazzo on them under the instructionsta remain unseen by either one so they wouldn’t get caught.

From there, the pictures taken wound up sold to whatever tabloid happened to want them, along with a story Intended to keep the band in the headlines. They were known for doing some wild, crazy, a-d even downright weird shit, so what could get much worse than the bassist fuckin’ a literal midget? But not only had the tabloids tried to paint it out like he was a freak-lover and just trying to use the young woman depicted to raise his own fame, they’d violated their privacy, too. God only knew that they’d have prolly stooped so low as to sell any pictures and footage of them actually fuckin’ to any porno magazine that’d so much as give them a passing glance, if they’d gotten that kinda shit, too.

Beyond enraged by these events, Bobby’d taken to the media in his own way, starting with a statement issued by the band’s manager. He’d made it quite clear that his private Life _was not_ meant to be a public spectacle, ’cuz he was quite capable of doing that on his own, if that’s what he wanted. Anyone else who dared to invade his privacy and that of anyone else in his personal Life’d be slapped with a helluva lawsuit for daring to do so. That was mostly to protect folks like his girlfriend, who didn’t need that kinda stress, as well as folks like his mom, siblings, nieces, and nephews.

Three weeks and a Day after _Ostara_ and the ensuing Madness, he’d been scheduled for a solo interview to talk about the band’s upcoming sophomore album. All three of the blondes’d done their own solo interviews, and they’d even done one or two as a group. It was something he couldn’t get outta, whether he wanted to or not, so he was forced to just bite the bullet, grin, and bear it. But if there was anything he hoped _didn’t_ come up during said interview, it was anything to do with those tabloid covers and his personal Life. Nothing’d set him off quicker and unleash a side of him no one’d ever seen before like that would, especially since he’d other things on his mind, too. He just didn’t have the Time or Patienceta be deflecting stupid and/or nosy questions, and he wasn’t gonna pretend he did.

“So, Poison’s a new album coming out next month, huh?” the interviewer–a guy by the name of Craig–queried curiously.

“Yeah, we do,” he answered, nodding as he ignored the camera trained on him.

“Can ya give us any idea of what it’s about?” Craig asked, leaning forward like he was actually interested–which he could tell he wasn’t.

“Oh, it’s gonna be typical Poison fashion,” the bassist chuckled. “Typical wild, party-worthy anthems mixed with a few more serious and reminiscent tunes.”

“Reminiscent?” he queried, looking confused.

“You’ll see when the album comes out,” Bobby teased playfully. “We’re not planning on releasing _that_ song as a single right off the bat, if we ever do. Besides, I’ve promised a few folks they’d see what I meant about it tying into something else, but I want it to be a surprise for them at the private listening party we’re having soon.”

“Aw, c’mon–that’s no fair!” the interviewer laughed.

“Our album, our rules on what we say in interviews,” he snickered.

“So, when’s the release date supposed to be?” Craig asked.

“We’re shooting for early-May, but it might be closer to the End of the month,” the bassist answered. “Definitely before June, though, either way.”

“That’s not all that far away,” he mused, a thoughtful look coloring his features.

“Well, we’ve been working on this record since September,” Bobby admitted. “Took our Time on it compared to _Cat Dragged In,_ but we can’t afford to let it sit on a shelf for too much longer.”

“Fair enough.” The interviewer nodded his agreement as he looked back down to the sheet of questions in his hand.

He unscrewed the lid from his Water bottle so he could grab a quick sip, but he didn’t like the glint in the eyes that turned back up to him as he was swallowing that sip.

“Now, just outta Curiosity…” Craig trailed off, no doubt to build suspense for the eventual viewers of this interview. “About those tabloid covers ya were on recently…”

“No comment,” the bassist growled, his expression shifting just as quickly as the gears in his mind.

“There’s gotta be _something_ ya can tell us,” he all but begged. “I mean, no one’s ever seen ya with a midget, not even backstage.”

“My private Life’s just that–private,” Bobby snapped. “I don’t have to explain or answer for shit, if it’s nothing to do with the band. And I guarantee ya that if ya call that young woman a midget again, you’ll walk outta here with a black eye and a split lip, at the least.”

The interviewer clearly wasn’t gonna back down on getting an answer to his question, even though it was obvious that he didn’t wanna give one. It didn’t take more than a couple minutes before he’d enough of the guy’s pushy behavior, which made him simply rise from his seat and pull off the mic that’d been secured to the collar of his shirt. Once again, he said that his private Life was no one’s business but his own, and he wasn’t letting anyone force him into answering something he didn’t wanna.

Naturally, that made Craig get even pushier since he felt he was trying to hide something unsavory, and it really pissed him off. His Intent wasta just walk away before he did or said something he’d regret, but one last comment outta the shorter man finally set off the bomb that was his temper. Red haze obscured his vision as he accused him of holding the girl in the picture hostage for rape or something.

Quite literally snarling as he whirled on him, the bassist’s eyes looked like they were made of Obsidian or something as he grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and shoved him against the nearest wall. He didn’t give a fuck whether the cameras were still rolling or not as he got so close, the guy’d no choice but to meet his gaze. Whether he was terrified of him for Life or not didn’t matter to him–getting his point across once and for all was what was important. This was something he was only gonna say once, and it better stick, or he was gonna get even meaner than he was feeling right now.

“If I ever–and I do mean _ever_ –hear another accusation like that come outta your mouth again, I’ll make sure your body’s never found. Clear as fuckin’ mud?” Bobby snarled, his volume too low to be heard, even from across the room.

“Well, ya were being so dodgy–” the interviewer started, only to get cut off.

“’Cuz I meant what I said about my private Life being fuckin’ private, asshole!” he snapped, practically throwing him onto the floor.

Craig let out a yelp as he landed on his elbow, which no doubt hurt like hell.

“I’ve never tried to fuck a woman that obviously wasn’t interested in me!” the bassist told him. “For every woman who _doesn’t_ want me, there’s ten more right behind her who _do,_ so I don’t have to look very far to get laid!”

Even the crew were too terrified to approach them as he loomed over him.

“And I don’t appreciate your comments about my girlfriend any more than she’s gonna when she sees this!” Bobby continued.

“Wait, she’s actually your girlfriend?” one of the cameramen–who’d intelligently killed the cameras by this point–queried.

“Yeah, she is.” He nodded, not taking his eyes off his target for even a second. “And she’s enough to deal with _without_ y’all fuckin’ vultures targeting her and calling her names just ’cuz of her size.”

Everybody realized that he really must care about the young woman who’d been photographed on the Beach with him that Day.

“Now, if you’ll excuse me before I wind up getting myself arrested, I need to get outta here,” the bassist said, his expression shifting once again. “My girlfriend’s been sick all week, and I’m worried about her–I don’t need your shit piled on top of that and everything else, too.”

“Go on, then,” one of the Sound guys told him, shooting his boss a scathing look when he tried to stop him. “Enough, Craig! Can’tcha see that he’s enough on his plate withoutcha being a nosy ass for the sake of reporting, if it can even be called that anymore?”

Without waiting to listen to their argument, Bobby snatched up his personal effects, the exception being that Water bottle. Not only was it nearly empty at this point, but he didn’t trust these fuckers not to try lacing what was left with something while his back was turned. There wasn’t really any point in grabbing it, so he took off and made it seem like he’d simply forgotten it ’cuz of everything else already on his mind.

After a short drive that seemed to take forever, he finally pulled into his driveway, the garage door already opening from hitting the remote on his visor. He hadn’t been kidding when he’d said that he was worried about Aria, ’cuz she’d definitely been sick for nearly a week now. Being unable to keep anything down wasn’t good under normal circumstances, but it was even worse for her.

Upon entering the back hall via the mud room, the first place the bassist headed was into his bedroom, and for a couple different reasons. First and foremost, he wanted to empty his pockets since he didn’t exactly need things like his wallet, now that he was home for the Day. Secondly, he knew that if things’d gone the way everybody wanted them to, his girlfriend was prolly asleep in his bed right now. God only knew he _hoped_ that was the case, ’cuz as sick as she’d been the past few Days, he knew she hadn’t been sleeping very well. The poor thing was perpetually exhausted, ’cuz every Time she’d fall asleep, she’d wake up sick as a Dog again shortly thereafter.

Just as he’d suspected, Bobby found his girlfriend curled up in his bed, his pillow clutched to her chest for dear Life. A slight smile crossed his face as he quietly entered the room, then crossed it so he could open the second drawer of his nightstand. He took care to keep quiet as he laid his wallet down, then quietly closed the drawer again in the Hopes of not disturbing her. The tiny woman looked like she was finally sleeping good, and he didn’t wanna ruin that by startling her awake. But he was a bit surprised to walk into his bathroom and see something on his counter that hadn’t been there before.

“I thought I heardja come in.”

Smiling as he made his way toward the front of the house, he joined Cali in his dining room, where she’d set up a makeshift sewing room. “Yeah, I was trying to be quiet just in case Aria was finally getting some sleep.”

“She was the last Time I checked on her,” she told him.

“Ah, she’s still asleep,” Bobby assured her with a chuckle. “Clutching my pillow for dear Life like she thought I wasn’t coming back or something, but definitely asleep.”

“Well, that’s good.” The family matriarch nodded decisively.

“So, how’d her doctor’s appointment go this Morn?” he queried curiously. “I mean, I worry about her all the Time, but I’ve definitely been worried about her this week.”

“I think it’s best thatcha hear it from Aria,” Cali answered, just enough of a no-nonsense look coloring her features for him not to argue the point.

“That sounds kinda ominous, when ya put it like that,” the bassist admitted. “But if there’s one thing I’ve learned about your family and just _you,_ in general, it’s not to push buttons when ya say something like that.”

“It’s not that I don’t wanna tell ya,” she sighed, pushing herself up from his dining room table. “I just think that it’s best heard from my daughter’s mouth, not mine, unless she asks me to tell ya.”

“Hey, I can respect that,” Bobby said. “Doesn’t mean your choice phrasing doesn’t make it sound ominous, though.”

“I admit that my English’s never been the best,” the family matriarch laughed. “It’s better than when I first moved here, but it’s definitely not my mother tongue.”

“Yeah, Aria told me that you’re Greek and your ex was Italian,” he mused. “With your accent, I figured Greek was your first language.”

Nodding, Cali choseta ignore the mention of her ex-husband since she knew he didn’t mean any harm by it. She admitted that most thought her first language was English at first, but once they realized her accent was foreign, they’d figure out the Truth. However, she generally didn’t tell anyone her nationality, and therefore what her mother tongue was, and certainly not right off the bat.

As they headed into the kitchen so they could work on lunch together, the bassist couldn’t help but wonder just what she wanted to tell him, but didn’t dare behind her daughter’s back. Whatever it was, it was apparently pretty serious, but she acted like Aria was gonna tell him something like she’d been cheating on him. He doubted that was actually the case, but he couldn’t help the Directions his mind wandered in since he’d never been faced with this kinda scenario before. But he certainly wasn’t expecting the explanation he wasta get once his girlfriend woke up from her nap shortly thereafter.


	15. Fifteen

Once Aria awoke from her nap and came out to join her mother, she was simultaneously elated to see her boyfriend, but also incredibly nervous. She knew without question that the answer she’d gotten at her doctor’s appointment was Life-Changing, to say the least, and not just for herself. If there was on thing she Feared above all else, it was being left entirely on her own to handle this particular _problem,_ even though she wasn’t the only one at fault for it. Well, aside from her family, whom she knew would support her, regardless–and prolly draw-and-quarter her boyfriend before it was all over.

Bobby’s first move upon seeing his girlfriend wasta grab her for as tight a hug as she could stand, ’cuz her expression wasn’t lost on him. Neither was the Energy she was pouring out, considering that–in meeting her and her family, and learning that they were Witches–he’d wound up learning something surprising about himself. He’d been born as what they called an Empath, which made him incredibly sensitive to the Energy around him. Feeling the Emotions of another was just as common an occurrence as feeling the presence of the Dead, according to them. It was for that reason that he could already tell she was glad to see him, but nervous about something without having to ask.

Steering her over to the living room, he settled on the couch so that she was sammiched between himself and her mother. The tiny woman’s Anxiety was palpable at this point, and he couldn’t help but wonder what was wrong with her as she grabbed both their hands. Had that doctor’s appointment Revealed something terminal, which’d mean he was gonna lose her sooner than he wouldn’t? Fuck only knew he hoped that _wasn’t_ the case, but anything was possible, especially with her form of dwarfism.

_“Vathiá anása, kóri mou,”_ Cali said, her voice taking on an almost hypnotic tone.

The bassist didn’t have the slightest clue what she’d said, but he got a pretty good idea when his girlfriend took a deep, steadying breath and slowly let it out.

_“Nai xéro ópos kai egó, óti den tha sas afísei an móno giatí fovátai ton thánato ton adelfón sas,”_ she told her.

Aria’s face actually broke into a small, nervous smile and she let out an equally nervous giggle, but it was good enough for the lone man.

“I dunno what the hell ya just said to her, but whatever it was musta been funny, if she’s laughing,” he chuckled.

“Just a reminder about something to help Calm her down,” the family matriarch laughed.

“Hey, whatever works,” Bobby said. “’Cuz ever since I found out I’m an Empath, I’ve been feeling shit left and right that I’ve prolly always felt, but never had a name for.”

“And that includes her current Anxiety,” she mused.

“Along with how elated she wasta finally see me again, despite that,” the bassist agreed, nodding.

His tiny girlfriend took another deep breath, and he wasn’t entirely sure she realized that her grip on his hand tightened.

“Just take your Time, daughter,” her mother told her, gently rubbing her back with her free hand.

Nodding, Aria looked up at her boyfriend, still more than a lil nervous as she took yet another breath to start explaining everything to him. She knew he wouldn’t be expecting her to say that her doctor’s appointment hadn’t Revealed that anything was wrong with her, in terms of having something terminal. But what it _had_ Revealed was prolly just as surprising as if she’d been told she’d cancer, considering the circumstances and Timing.

Bobby’s jaw dropped when she told him that she’d found out she was pregnant, which was why she hadn’t been feeling good all week. He almost didn’t hear her say that, while it was about a week early for such a thing, having Morn sickness was perfect normal during pregnancy. The buzzing in his ears made him feel like an entire beehive’d been stuffed into his head, and the only thing he could hear was their tiny wings flapping madly. Still, he managed to shake off enough of his shock to form at least a somewhat intelligent response, which wasn’t much of a surpriseta either woman.

It turned out that the tiny woman was three weeks and a Day into her pregnancy, if her doctor’s calculations were right. That meant she’d no doubt conceived as a result of the _Ostara_ celebration he’d joined in on, but that led to one big question. He couldn’t help wondering if either of them’d even remembered a rubber that Night, or if they _had_ and it’d simply broken.

“To be quite honest, I can’t remember if we did or not,” she giggled. “I mean, we were all caught up in the festivities, and it _was_ one of the Fertility Sabbats.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised, if I’ve at least one other grandchild on the way as a result,” Cali chuckled.

“Well, you’ve four sons that’re clearly as far from abstinent as I am!” the bassist laughed. “And from what I’ve heard about Greeks and Italians, especially Italians–yeah, I’d be pretty surprised to find out that Aria was the only one to’ve conceived that Night.”

“My point exactly.” She nodded her agreement as she rubbed her daughter’s back again. “That’s not to say that _all_ my sons’ll become fathers–again, in most cases. After all, Tony and his wife’re old enough now that Gina may’ve come into her next Change of Life, as it were.”

“But not necessarily true for any of the others’ girls,” Bobby mused before heaving a sigh.

“You’re–You’re not mad, are ya?” his girlfriend queried, that anxious tone back in her voice.

“I’m not pissed in the slightest–not at this,” he assured her as he pushed himself to his feet. “I mean, I’m just as much at fault as you–takes two to tango, after all.”

Aria nodded as she watched him pace between the End of the couch and the bank of counters that housed the dishwasher and kitchen sink.

“We both got more caught-up in the celebration than either of us realized, so it wouldn’t be fair to blame it all on you,” the bassist continued. “I’ll be honest and say ya prolly _are_ a lil more at fault, ’cuz you’re the one who unleashed that _Sex magick_ on me and fried my brain, but I shoulda had enough sense not to letcha put me that far under, so to speak.”

“Fair enough, young man,” Cali agreed with an approving nod.

Turning to face the pair once again, he heaved another sigh. “I’ma head out on a solo ride for a while.”

The tiny woman’s face fell, almost as if she thought he was rejecting her–and therefore, their baby.

“Don’t look at me like that,” Bobby chuckled, kneeling down next to her legs. “Ya know that _Grounding and Centering_ thing ya were telling me about?”

“Can’t forget it since that’s something I grew up doing,” she responded.

“Well, think of me going out on a solo ride right now as my own Grounding and Centering,” the bassist said. “I’ve a lot going on–including figuring out how to keep the media away from ya on a normal Day–and I didn’t really need this piled onto everything else.”

Even the family matriarch understood what he meant as she nodded once again, ’cuz he’d made no bones about how busy he was right now. What with having another album due for release sometime within the next month–the next couple weeks, if they were lucky–there was a lot going on. In fact, the band hadn’t even gotten to the photo shoot that was supposed to be done for the back cover and inner sleeve of said album, ’cuz that wasn’t till the following week.

Aria couldn’t help the tears that welled up as she dragged him into her arms, begging him to be careful while he was gone. She knew damn good and well that he ordinarily wouldn’t do anything stupid while he was on his bike, but this wasn’t like any other ride. He was no doubt distracted by everything weighing on him right now, and that might get him into trouble quicker than anything.

Promising to keep his mind blank aside from paying attention to traffic till he stopped, Bobby pushed himself up from where he was kneeling. It was the only way he could think of to keep himself safe while he was actually on the road, then be able to clear his head before he Returned. And he wasn’t surprised that she was more than a lil wound-up right now–not that he blamed her in the slightest. God only knew that _he_ was just as wound-up over this surprising discovery, even if he wasn’t showing it nearly as much, now that he’d processed at least part of it.

Almost the moment that she heard the roar of her boyfriend’s bike disappear down his street, the tiny woman couldn’t help bursting into tears. There was a part of her that still felt like he was rejecting her and their baby, even though he’d admitted that he was just as much at fault for their current predicament. Maybe that was lingering, repressed Anger at her own father for abandoning her before Birth talking, but she’d be the first to admit that her hormones were haywire right now. No doubt she wasn’t the first one to have these Thoughts, if a pregnancy hadn’t exactly been planned, but hadn’t exactly been prevented, either.

Cali gently wrapped her arms around her daughter, a soft song her own mother’d sang to her as a child drifting from her lips. It was entirely in Greek, but she knew her daughter understood every word of the lyrics since she’d made sure her kids all grew up speaking that and Italian. Even though she hated them knowing their father’s language, she hadn’t been willing to deprive them of any part of their heritage when they were children.

Not long afterward, mother and daughter were simply cuddling on the couch as they awaited Bobby’s Return. The tiny woman’d managed to stop crying, but she knew her mother could still feel her mixed-up Emotions, ’cuz she was the strongest Empath of their lil family-made Coven. Besides, she was her mother–there’d never been any hiding anything from her, even when she’d wanted to so badly, she could taste it. Her mother simply knew her too well for that kinda thing to work, so she usually didn’t even bother trying anymore.

Both women were startled by a sudden knock at the front door, which made Aria wipe away the last of her tears. She suspected that it was the trio of blondes who comprised the rest of Poison as her mother headed over to answer said door, so she wasn’t too worried. No doubt they’d gotten word of how her boyfriend’s interview went, which’d make them come to check up on him, if it hadn’t exactly gone well.

“Um, who’re you?”

Rising to her knees so she could see over the back of the couch, the tiny woman realized it _wasn’t_ Bobby’s band mates at the door.

“I feel I should be asking the same of you,” Cali responded, clearly gearing up to go into _Mama Bear_ mode.

“Chill out, Mama,” her daughter giggled, climbing down off the couch to round it. “Never seen ’em, but I recognize his voice well enough.”

“Wait a minute–Aria?” the male ginger queried, his eyes widening.

“In the flesh,” Aria answered, a grin finally splitting her face.

“Good God,” he laughed. “My brother saidja were shorter than him, but I didn’t think it was by _this_ much!”

Her mother continued giving the group suspicious looks as he knelt down to hug her.

“Mama, this is Bobby’s family,” the tiny woman said, letting both of the women dole out hugs of their own.

“Ah, his mother and older siblings, if I recall right.” Cali nodded, finally stepping back to let them in.

“Yeah, I’m his brother, Don,” the ginger said. “Brat usually calls me _Butch,_ though, so don’t be surprised, if he does.”

“I’m his sister, Patty,” the younger of the women chuckled.

“And I’m their mother, Lynda,” the older woman finally told them, letting her older son hang their coats up in his brother’s coat closet.

“Just call me Cali,” she said as they turned for the living room. “My name’s actually Calypso, but I’ve found that many have problems with the pronunciation.”

“Mediterranean, right?” Don queried as they all got settled.

Nodding, the family matriarch told him that he was right since she was from Southeastern Greece, all but a hop, skip, and a jump from the Aegean Sea. The Mediterranean Sea was actually to the South _west_ of where she’d grown up, but it was close enough, as far as she was concerned. At least the young man’d gotten the basic part of the World right, which was all that really mattered to her.

Following the formal introductions, Lynda couldn’t help wondering where her younger son was since he wasn’t due to be on tour just yet. His band’s first show since killing their tour last Summer wasn’t supposed to be till they played in Cincinnati, Ohio on May first. That meant that unless he was busy with an interview or out running errands, he shoulda been home for the moment. Otherwise, she and her other children wouldn’t have flown out from their home in South-Central, Penn till he’d gotten to come home for a break or _after_ the tour’d been concluded.

Heaving a sigh, the tiny woman was forced to admit that he’d gone out on a solo ride to clear his head a bit. She refused to tell them exactly what’d sent him out on that ride without Bobby present, ’cuz she felt he deserved to be here for it. But she wasn’t exactly lying when she said that he’d a lot on his mind and felt the need to be alone for a bit, which was apparently an acceptable response for the trio she’d only talked to on the phone.

Since they didn’t exactly have any other choices, Cali and Aria were all for getting to know the bassist’s family while they were waiting. He’d spoken highly of all of them, making it seem like he was just as close with them as their own family was with each other. Granted, his family was a lot smaller since there were only three kidsta have to worry about finding significant others and having kids of their own, but that didn’t mean they weren’t just as close. Besides, that gave both of them something elseta focus on while they were waiting, which Soothed the youngest woman’s nerves. Not driving up her blood pressure by worrying about him was the best thing she could do for herself right now, after all.


	16. Sixteen

Walking back into his house, Bobby felt at least a lil Calmer and definitely more clear-headed than when he’d first taken off. He still wasn’t entirely sure how they hell they were gonna handle having a kid on the way, and he definitely didn’t feel ready for such a Life-Changing step. Unfortunately, it wasn’t like he could put his cock in _Reverse_ and suck this baby back out any more than he could Travel back in Time, so there was no going back and preventing it now.

However, a smile crossed his face as he walked into his living room to see Aria and Cali talking to his own mom and siblings like they’d known each other forever. Part of him’d wanted to call his mother and talk this situation over with her, so their showing up out West saved him a step–and quite a bit of money on his phone bill.

Said mother and siblings quickly noticed him and rose from their seatsta give him hugs like they always did when they got to see each other. The bassist’d known they wanted to come out for Easter the week previous, but conflicting schedules’d prevented that. Now that they were here, though, he just hoped they could overlook certain things, ’cuz he’d hate to be forced to choose between his existing family and the one that was in the making. It’d absolutely kill him to have to make that kinda choice, and he didn’t even wanna think about the possibility right now.

“Ya look worried, baby boy,” Lynda said, able to read him as easily as her older children–as easily as Cali could read her own.

“Wasn’t even gonna try denying it,” Bobby chuckled, settling in the floor since his seating options were limited.

“So, what’s up?” his brother queried curiously. “I mean, I know your band’s supposed to be releasing another album soon and all.”

“Oh, that’s definitely part of it,” he admitted, nodding. “The listening party I was telling ya about is in a couple Days since it’s pretty much done.”

“Define _pretty much,_ lil brother,” Patty dead-panned.

“As in, we’ve really only got the photo shoot for the covers and liner left to do,” the bassist laughed.

“Wow, it really _is_ pretty much done,” she agreed with a laugh of her own.

“And speaking of, your outfit’s almost done, too,” Cali spoke up.

“Sweet!” Bobby punched the Air in utter glee. “One less thing for me to worry about when I feel like my brain’s being yanked in every Direction a Spider web can be spun in!”

Not even his mother could help a laugh at his reaction, although his family was definitely confused by what they meant. He didn’t even bother trying to hide his grin as he explained what his girlfriend’s mother’d started doing for a living, which made perfect since. They only had to look at Aria to figure out why her becoming a fashion designer was a Natural choice, even if it wasn’t one she’d have made without having a special-needs child.

Still picking up on her younger son’s distress, though, Lynda couldn’t help pulling him against her as much as she could for sitting above him on the couch. If there was one thing she knew about him, it was that he’d usually open up on his own good Time, but there were some occasions that he _needed_ to be prodded.

Heaving a sigh, Bobby reached over to grab his girlfriend’s hand, giving it a gentle squeeze as he got his Thoughts in order. Knowing he wasn’t hiding shit from his mother and that she’d kill him, if she found out from anyone else, he decided it was better to just get this part over with. Besides, she and Patty might offer a solution to something that’d crossed his mind while he was hiding on a lil Beach not even his band mates knew he went to sometimes. Then again, even if they _couldn’t_ help him out themselves, they might be able to point him toward someone who could.

“Since there’s no hiding anything from ya, and you’d kill me, if I tried…” he chuckled. “We found out that Aria’s pregnant.”

His own family’s matriarch started to ream him out, which made him chuckle again as he reached up to gently cover her mouth.

“I literally _just_ found out all of a couple hours ago, Mama,” the bassist told her. “I went out on a solo ride to clear my head and get my Thoughts at least somewhat straightened out before I even considered telling anyone else.”

“I’d say that’s a smart move, Mom,” Don mused. “With everything else he’s to worry about right now, freakin’ out’s the last thing he needsta do.”

“I guess that’s fair enough,” Lynda agreed reluctantly.

“My plan wasta call ya once I got back and made sure Aria knew I wasn’t gonna be an idiot to the _nth_ degree,” Bobby said. “Ya showing up when ya did just saves me some trouble–and money.”

“Definitely got a point there, lil brother,” his sister laughed.

“I mean, I’m dealing with all the shit that leads up to releasing an album, and figuring out how the hell I’ma keep the media away from Aria,” he sighed. “Now, I’ve to figure out how the hell I’ma keep her pregnancy from becoming a headline, who’s gonna be my tech on tour since that was technically _her_ job, and just worrying about her more than I normally do.”

“I can see why ya would,” Patty mused. “She’s so much shorter than you, and prolly gonna have a big baby as a result.”

Shaking her head, Aria was the one to tell them that that wasn’t necessarily true, just like with something like eye Color and skin tone. It was entirely possible that their baby’d be closer to her own height, although it wasn’t necessarily a guarantee. What made her so short in the first place was genetic since it stemmed from fucked-up chromosomes, so she could very well pass it on.

Even Lynda was surprised as the tiny woman explained what lil was known about _Russell-Silver Syndrome,_ which honestly wasn’t much. Apparently, it’d something to do with genes that affected physical growth, and how they were passed on from one’s parents. They’d been told that she’d inherited only one copy of chromosomes seven and eleven from just one of her parents. Due to not having a copy from the other parent–or having a copy that was essentially turned off, as it were–she’d been born with this particular type of dwarfism.

What lil research’d been done at this point suggested that most of the rare cases of _Russell-Silver_ were sporadic. That meant that there wasn’t a family history of the disease, so researchers weren’t entirely sure where it woulda stemmed from. But there were a few where there _was_ a family history, and that was the part that got even more convoluted. In some families, there was a Dominant inheritance pattern, which meant that only one copy of the mutated gene could cause it to appear.

“But in other families, there’s a _recessive_ inheritance pattern,” the tiny woman explained. “Meaning that chances are, _both_ parents carry it, but don’t show any symptoms of having it.”

“Kinda like with red hair, I guess,” Don mused. “No one else in my immediate family’s a ginger, but there’s no denying that _I_ am, and that I’m related to them.”

“No, there’s definitely not,” she agreed with a giggle. “You’re basically a blue-eyed, ginger version of Bobby.”

“So, you’re saying that it’s likely both of _your_ parents were carriers?” Patty queried curiously.

“Actually, none of us’re sure about that,” Aria answered.

“Trust me, if ya ever get a chanceta meet her brothers, ya won’t miss why she says that,” her boyfriend spoke up with a laugh.

“That obvious, huh?” his brother chuckled.

“Think of _me_ being to her oldest brother what _she_ is to me,” Bobby told them. “I shitcha not, Tony towers over me like _I’m_ the midget here!”

“You’re shitting me, baby brother!” his sister veritably exploded.

“I’ll suck my own dick, if that dude _ain’t_ at least seven-six!” the bassist retorted.

“Seven-four, actually.”

Turning to look toward his foyer, he laughed as he saw the quartet in question. “Your ears musta been burning, man!”

“Like I’d acid poured in them,” Tony chuckled, pretending not to notice the wide-eyed looks turned on himself and his younger brothers.

Levering himself up from the floor, Bobby let them all pass out _bro-hugs_ as if he was actually related to them. Still grinning as he turned back to the group that was already there, he quickly introduced each one, glad that his family was able to shake off their stupor. Course, he wasn’t surprised by their reaction to being faced with several giants–after all, he’d reacted much the same way upon meeting them back in October.

Once everyone was settled and capable of coherent conversation again, he and Aria brought her brothers up to speed on what was going on. He wasn’t surprised by the hard looks all four of them shot him, nor was he surprised by the warning they issued. Not even his family thinking they issued that warning due to his own childhood was much of a surpriseta him.

“We’re not giving him that warning ’cuz of his own Past,” Orion said when he noticed their surprise.

“We’re giving him that warning ’cuz of our own,” Nico told them in his typical quiet demeanor.

“Our father left when he found out there was likely something wrong with Aria before she was born,” the oldest Mancini brother explained. “Didn’t even stick around long enough to find out _what_ was wrong with her before he split like a Banana peel.”

Don and Patty winced, ’cuz they at least somewhat understood where they were coming from.

“I’ve been equal parts father and brother to her since before she was born,” he continued. “Nico’s been much the same way since he’s the next oldest.”

“But Orion and I were right around ten, if we were even outta the single-digits,” Jonas continued. “We didn’t have nearly as much pressure on us, but we’re still every bit as protective of our baby sister.”

“Gods only know we don’t _ever_ wanna have to explain to our niece or nephew that Daddy took off, ’cuz he couldn’t handle all the pressure on him,” Tony growled. “Nor do we wanna have to keep said sister sane through struggling to raise a baby in her shape with no help from its father.”

“And that goes doubly, even triply so, considering said father was abandoned by his own father,” the next-to-oldest agreed.

“Hey, you’ve all got damn good reasons for feeling that way,” the lone ginger said. “Besides, if Mom _didn’t_ kill him for doing the same thing our dad did to us, _I’d_ make sure Bobby didn’t live to see another Sunrise.”

“Or Sunset, depending on the Time of Day ya came after me,” Bobby laughed. “But I’ve no plans of doing anything but maybe taking off to clear my head like I did.”

Everybody in the room nodded their approval, glad to’ve come to that Understanding without anybody getting into a fight over it.

Moving on to the next biggest point, he wasn’t the slightest bit shy in expressing his concerns about her Health and how the pregnancy’d go. Aria’d already said that there was a chance their baby could also have _Russell-Silver,_ but there was an equal chance that it wouldn’t. It was simply too soon to tell, so they’d just have to wait and see what happened when it came to that part.

However, he was worried that having a kid with someone of his height’d prove to be detrimental, if not fatal to her. After all, her torso wasn’t nearly as big as that of even an average woman, let alone one Cali’s height or taller. If there was anything he was worried about, it was whether her pregnancy’d prove to compress her heart and lungs too much. That kinda thing’d be incompatible with Life, and he didn’t wanna lose her just ’cuz she was stubborn and insisted on carrying, even when she shoulda gotten an abortion.

Laughing as she shot him a grin, she assured him that chances were, that kinda thing wasn’t gonna happen to her. She’d heard a few stories of folks her size and even smaller successfully carrying a pregnancy to term and having a healthy baby. Due to the fact that she technically fell into the category of _proportionate dwarfism,_ she was pretty sure that’d be the case with her. When it was all said and done, she’d be just fine and have a perfectly healthy baby to show for her upcoming struggles.

“You’re sure about that?” Bobby asked uncertainly.

“You’ve seen all there is _to_ see,” the tiny woman giggled. “Just ’cuz I’m shorter doesn’t mean I’m not laid out like any other woman.”

He couldn’t help blushing as that made him think back on the first Time they slept together, and how surprised he wasn’t that he was even _able_ to bottom out without hurting her.

“As long as I keep stressta a minimum like any other expectant mother’d be told to, I’m pretty sure we’ll be fine,” Aria said. “I mean, I might need a C-section, if the baby turns out to inherit _your_ height, but how’s that any different from Mama and her pregnancies?”

“I–okay, I totally _can’t_ argue there,” the bassist laughed. “You having a kid with my height’d be no different than Cali needing a C-section ’cuz she kept having giants!”

“My point exactly, hon,” she told him. “I rest my case on that part.”

“I guess that just leads me to the stress part,” Bobby sighed. “I mean, there’s no way you’re gonna be able to go on tour as my bass tech with a pregnancy thrown into the mix, too.”

“But–” the tiny woman started to argue.

“Don’t even try it, my lil Shadow kitten,” he said firmly. “I’m not endangering you _or_ our baby, just ’cuz ya were hired for a job.”

Aria still looked like she wanted to argue the point.

“Look, I don’t care how much ya were looking forward to it,” the bassist told her. “I’d rather get another tech and my girlfriend and child survive than for something to happen to either of ya ’cuz I letcha hit the road with us.”

“Hold it right there,” Jonas finally said, sensing that things were about to spin outta Control. “I’ve an idea that might just be agreeable to all of us, even _Bobby’s_ family.”

Waiting till he was sure no one was gonna cut him off, he brought said family up to speed so his idea’d make senseta them. Once they’d been told about how he’d been building his own custom rigs since he was a teenager, he waited for some kinda acknowledgement that they were keeping up. That allowed him to actually dive into his idea, which seemed to have the attention of his sister’s boyfriend more than anything.

Due to his experience with tearing apart and rebuilding guitars and basses alike, the youngest Mancini brother proposed that he hit the road with them as a half-tech, as it were. By that, he meant splitting that role with his sister so she’d still get to do what she’d been hired to for as long as possible. Once she reached the point in her pregnancy that she couldn’t do it anymore–especially if she wound up on bed rest–he’d take over the position full-Time. At least then, she wouldn’t have to back outta the job entirely, but she wouldn’t be completely letting her boyfriend and the band down, either.

It seemed that Jonas’ idea was more than a lil Inspiring, ’cuz that made even Tony perk up with an idea of his own. Not only were they gonna have to figure out what to do about Bobby having a tech this tour, but they still needed to solve the problem of hiring a security team. Each of the band members needed their own body guard, but they needed additional security at the venues, too.

“I mean, we’re technically Mom’s inventory and stock crew, but I wouldn’t feel any better about Aria hitting the road than if we take care of that angle, ourselves,” he said.

“And if we’re gonna handle security for her and Bobby, we might as well handle it for the entire band while we’re at it,” Nico mused, stroking his chin thoughtfully.

“God knows you’d be enough to scare off just about anyone,” the bassist chuckled. “You’re all freakin’ giants, and even _I’m_ still terrified of ya half the Time!”

All four brothers snickered, but didn’t try to deny what was obvious.

“But if Jonas is serving as my tech, who else’d be on the security team?” Bobby queried. “’Cuz there’s so Blessed many of y’all that I can’t remember who’s who without seeing faces.”

“My twin sons, Alexius and Andrea, for starters,” the oldest Mancini brother answered with a chuckle. “They’re both twenty, brawny as hell, and searching for work.”

“Then my own sons, Emiliano and Giuliano, who’re sixteen and fifteen, respectively,” Nico continued.

“So, that takes us up to seven for a security team,” the next-to-youngest brother said. “And that’s not counting my own fourteen-Year-old son, Stefano, who looks more like he’s eighteen.”

“Jeez, I know my brother said Aria was the baby of her family, but I didn’t think ya were all _that_ much older than her!” Don laughed.

“As I told said baby brother of yours, I was twenty upon my sister’s Birth,” Tony chuckled. “Nico’s three Years younger than me, Orion six Years younger, and Jonas the baby of us brothers at fourteen Years younger than me.”

“So, you’re forty-two or forty-three now, right?” the ginger queried.

“Not far from turning forty-three,” he answered.

“Means that Nico should be either thirty-nine or just turned forty,” Don mused. “Orion’s either thrity-three or thirty-four, and Jonas clocks in at twenty-seven or twenty-eight.”

“Just turned twenty-eight back in December,” Jonas chuckled. “And no, I don’t have any kids yet unless my own girlfriend’s made a recent discovery she hasn’t told me about yet.”

With those particular problems solved as much as they could be till he got a chanceta run all this past his band mates and management, Bobby turned his attention to something else. Even though he’d Faith that his girlfriend knew her body well, he was still worried about what this pregnancy could do to her. He was still concerned that something was gonna go wrong due to that _Russell-Silver Syndrome,_ but Jonas’ original idea’d Inspired him a bit.

As it turned out, Lynda and Patty were both nurses by profession, and that was the other big thing that’d Inspired him. Obviously, they were gonna need medics on this tour for when one of the band members did something stupid and hurt themselves. When one added in literal accidents–like when Rikki’s tech got his hand pinched in part of the drum riser as he was putting it together–and general illness, such a thing was a given. But with Aria’s surprise and no doubt high-risk pregnancy, it was gonna be even more of a requirement than it normally would.

To that End, much like her brothers with wanting to assure themselves of their welfare by taking on the security duty, there wasn’t anyone else he trusted nearly as much with any of their Health. For that reason, the bassist turned a pleading look on his mother and sister, praying to any Deity that’d listen to him–even Pagan ones–that they’d at least try to help him out.

In an odd twist of Fate that worked out for him, his mother’d been put outta work due to a back injury a few Years ago. She was basically relegated to desk duty at best, but since she hated sitting still as bad as he did, she’d chosen to retire early. On the other hand, his sister was between jobs and waiting to hear back on a few applications she’d put in, but still needed something to do with herself and money in the meantime. Having them serve as their tour medics since the former could take care of lil things and the latter could handle the more physically-demanding parts was the answer to his problem. As far as he was concerned, everybody’d have any medical care they needed, if it didn’t require a trip to the ER, and it’d be provided by folks he trusted.

Now that a few different problems at least had potential solutions, Bobby allowed himself to simply flop back in the floor. His girlfriend giggled when she peered over the couch arm at him, thinking that his hair looked like a Dark halo around his head. All he could do was roll his eyes at her, unable to help a chuckle as even their families laughed at his reaction. But they weren’t quite outta the Woods since they’d to get these solutions approved, not to mention get through the upcoming photo shoot. And that wasn’t even including kicking off the tour, then getting through it with everyone still alive, even if they _were_ a lil banged-up by the End of it.


	17. Seventeen

A couple Days after his family’s arrival out West, Bobby was getting himself ready for the listening party he’d mentioned several Times over the past few months. It was finally Time for he and the band to Reveal what they’d been working on to someone other than each other and producer Tom Werman. He just hoped that his family didn’t react _too_ badly to some of the songs–like the one they’d entitled _Good Love_ –considering how wild they were.

Decked out in some of his favorite leather britches and a ripped-up shirt bearing the cover Art from their debut album, he let out the deep breath he’d taken in a heavy sigh. He knew he was gonna have to tell Bret, Rikki, and CC about his impending fatherhood sooner or later, whether he wanted to or not. But he didn’t think the Night of their listening party–or during the album’s photo shoot the following Day–was the Time or place for that. Telling them could wait at least a couple more Days unless he was forced into telling them sooner for whatever reason.

Clapping eyes on Aria once he walked into the living room brought a smile to his face, though, ’cuz he was liking what he saw. She’d apparently gotten her mother to make her a smaller version of what a lotta the girls on the Strip wore. Her leather mini skirt looked like it was tailored to her physique, and he knew no lil girl’d ever wear such a thing.

_“Mmm,_ lookin’ good, my lil Shadow kitten,” the bassist chuckled.

“You’re lookin’ pretty damn delicious, yourself,” she all but purred.

“None of that now, baby sister,” Tony laughed. “That’s what Created part of this mess we’re in, and we all know it.”

“No, that was the _Ostara_ celebration!” the tiny woman retorted, her grin never fading.

“We’ll get into that part later,” Bobby told his family when they looked curious. “We don’t have Time for a religious debate right now.”

“As long as it gets explained sooner or later,” Don acquiesced.

“It will, ’cuz it’s something that’ll have to be accepted or ignored,” he promised. “I don’t care who does what in that regard, but I’m not letting there be any fighting over it.”

“Fair enough, baby brother,” Patty agreed, nodding.

“Now, let’s get going before any of the guys show up, thinking I’m dead or something,” the bassist told the group.

Everybody nodded as they all headed out his front door, which he paused to make sure was locked before he followed behind them. Considering the number of people in his group alone, it’d been decided that a limo’d be sent to Bobby’s houseta pick everyone up. He knew that his girlfriend and both their families were surprised by such opulence, but he also knew that it was part of the Lifestyle he’d chosen for himself.

Once everyone was in the limo that’d pulled up at the foot of his driveway, he couldn’t help a laugh at the look on Aria’s face. She was clearly still getting used to being with a rock star in some ways, ’cuz most of the Time, she didn’t see the other side of his Life. All she ever really saw was the studio side, or when the band would make headlines for one reason or another.

Finally arriving at the Whisky A Go-Go, which they’d booked just for tonight, the limo glided to a halt by the curb. All the menfolk were perfect gentlemen by crawling out first, then pausing to help their significant others out without embarrassing themselves. With a quick head count that assured him that everyone from his group’d gotten out, the bassist turned to head into the building. He knew the rest of his band, their manager, and even the crew that’d been hired thus far was already waiting inside, and he didn’t wanna make them wait any longer. In fact, he was ready to let loose and get so drunk that even the Mancini brothers were surprised by just how wasted he got.

The trio of blondes were some of the first to greet him and the tiny woman that was tucked safely against his side. Every single one of them gave her some kinda hug, whether it was just pulling her against their own sides for a moment or hefting her up like her brothers did. Once that’d been done, they turned their attention to each of their families, who were equally delighted to see them again. Granted, even Rikki’d to look up to meet each of the Mancini brothers’ eyes, but that wasn’t a very big concern to any of them.

“All right, ladies and gents,” Bret chuckled, grabbing everyone’s attention once they’d grabbed plates from the buffet that’d been laid out and drinks’d been served.

All eyes in the house were on him as he took command, just like front men typically did.

“The entirety of Poison wantsta extend a big _thank-you_ and an even bigger, sloppier French kissta ya for joining us tonight,” he said, grinning as everybody burst into laughter. “We’ve worked our asses off on this record, and we damn sure hope ya like it.”

“Just like we hope it’s enough of the same attitude as our first record to truly call it a Poison record, but gets some Balance from the softer, more Emotional tunes on it,” Rikki added.

Cheers from friends, family, and crew rang out in a deafening roar before settling back down a bit.

“Then let’s kick this shindig into high gear with some _Love on the Rocks!”_ the front man laughed.

Howie laughed just as hard as he dropped the needle down on the record that appeared blank, which set it to play. All of them knew that he wasn’t talking about some kinda drink–which woulda been a Natural assumption, considering where they were at. Instead, he was talking about the opening song on said record, which he’d called out by name as a way of being funny.

Three and a-half minutes later, the song faded away, and there was a couple seconds of Silence before the next one started up. Everybody heard CC rip into one of the intros that’d wind up being infamous thirty Years from now as much as the rhythm section–well, kept rhythm together. Next was Bret’s Energetic hooting and laughter till about twenty seconds into the song. As far as any of them were concerned, it definitely had all the attitude their band was already known for, even before the first verse kicked in.

Bobby couldn’t help a chuckle that went unheard as his girlfriend turned wide eyes up at him, which made him shrug as he grinned. He knew she didn’t have a clue just how monotonous Life in the studio and on the road could truly be since she didn’t come in to the former with him every Day. Course, she’d soon find out just how monotonous Life on the road could get, and why they’d be looking for a good Time everywhere they could possibly find one, soon enough.

Up next was a song that talked about just wanting to Return to the carefree ways they’d known as children, followed by the one he’d helped Aria finish. None of his band mates were quite sure exactly what’d sparked the lyrics of _Good Love,_ but they were sure they didn’t wanna know. In fact, none of them wanted to know any more than they dared to ask about the next one that he’d been Inspired to write. The lyrics told them all they really wanted or needed to know, considering what a wildcat he could be when he felt like it. Actually asking for a true explanation’d prolly leave them scarred for Life, and their own antics did enough of that, as it was.

It seemed that no one really liked the sixth song on the record, and the band would be the first to admit that it prolly wasn’t one of their best tunes. But the seventh, which talked about the struggles faced upon moving to Hollywood to make it big, seemed to be a real attention-grabber. Even still, they knew the eighth song’d be even more of an attention-grabber, and they just sat back to watch.

The tiny woman’s brow furrowed as the song in question opened with a depressed sigh that flowed into Bret’s opening riff. Having not really gotten to know him very well, she hadn’t really asked much about his private Life. But her eyes widened as it progressed into the first verse, which obviously talked about having hit a rough patch, if not rock bottom in a Romantic relationship. Still, it was the chorus that made her eyes water more than even the second or third verse, or even the accompanying Music. Lost in the soft, smooth rhythm that’d obviously come outta her boyfriend’s bass, she almost missed what the lyrics were actually saying at first, but she quickly caught on. Right there in those lyrics was how the Rose theme he’d been running with lately tied back to his band, just like he’d said.

“Looks like we’ve more wet eyes in the house with _Every Rose_ than we ever did with _I Won’t Forget You!”_ Bret laughed once the record Ended about ten minutes later.

“That was fuckin’ heart-wrenching, man!” Tony retorted, even though he laughed.

“Hey, it happens when ya call your girl from the road, only to get a helluva rude wake-up call,” he told him, his shrug not as nonchalant as he’d been shooting for.

“Ouch,” Jonas winced, pulling his own girlfriend against his side. “Note to Self–don’t let that shit happen to us just ’cuz I’m heading out with them to play bass tech this Time around.”

“You’re not keeping us Mancini women away _that_ easily,” Gina laughed. “Even if we’ve to make a road trip across half the country to visit, we’ll find a way.”

“Sounds like as good a plan as any to me,” her husband agreed with a chuckle.

“Wait a minute–back up for a second,” the band’s manager said. “I thought this group was Aria’s brothers.”

“And they are,” Bobby sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I really didn’t wanna talk about this shit in the middle of what was _supposed_ to be a good Time, though.”

“Talk about what, dude?” the drummer queried.

“Let’s just say that something cropped up so that it’s better if Aria and Jonas split the role of bass tech,” he answered. “And since they’d rather look after their own sister, not to mention we still needed a security team, the others offered up their services, as it were.”

“Well, I’m not too sure ya can find much scarier than seven-foot-tall Greeks with the temper of Italians,” Rikki mused.

Not even Howie could really argue with that, especially since they were getting into crunch-Time w-hen it came to hiring folksta fill such roles. But it was pretty obvious, judging by the look he shot the bassist, that he already knew whatever he’d eluded to was serious. He Returned that look with one of his own, though, that screamed he’d best not push him right now, or he wouldn’t like what happened.

With the idea for a security team at least thrown at their manager for him to think over, Bobby turned his attention to simply having fun while he could. He knew that while there were a lotta fun partsta touring, there was a lot more stress than one’d think without experiencing it first hand. Not only that, but he didn’t wanna get in the habit of taking things too far Night after Night, knowing he’d a family to come home to at the End of it all. Allowing himself a Night to let loose every once in a while was one thing, but he couldn’t have a repeat of their last tour or worse.

Even though he tried to keep himself on a leash so he wouldn’t make an ass of himself, it wasn’t more than three hours before the bassist was completely wasted. In fact, he was even more wasted than on the Night of Aria’s birthday, during which he’d gotten fairly drunk. He actually disappeared to the mens’ room at one point, only to be found leaning up against the wall next to the toilet in the handicap stall, out like a Light.

Luckily for him, the Mancini brothers were pretty damn strong, so it was nothing for Tony to pick him up like he was a child. Carrying him toward the front entrance, he said it was prolly best that they get him home for the Night so he could get cleaned up and sleep it off. As it stood, he wasn’t entirely sure he or one of his other brothers _wouldn’t_ have to shower with him just to keep him upright so he wouldn’t hit his head on anything. Thankfully, Howie agreed with his assessment and said that he definitely needed to sober up, or he wouldn’t be of any use tomorrow. And that was assuming he didn’t put himself in the hospital with alcohol poisoning, which definitely wouldn’t be a good thing for him since that could lead to Death.

Overall, it wasn’t an entirely bad Night for anyone that’d been involved, the party lasting into the wee hours of the Morn. Even though Bobby hadn’t been able to stay for all of it before he was dragged off, everyone who’d been invited had quite a bit of fun. In addition to that, they all seemed to like the new album that’d be released sometime in May, whether it was the Beginning or the End of the month. All they could hope for now was that the fans’ reception was just as good, and that the tour went as smoothly as a tour possibly could for an infant rock band.


	18. Eighteen

Upon waking the next Morn, Bobby kinda Wished that he _hadn’t_ woken, considering how bad his head was pounding. He didn’t remember much after Poison’s new, unreleased album’d reached its End, but he _did_ remember that he’d Intentionally let loose last Night. Now, the trick was actually getting his ass outta bed and in gear for the Day since he’d that photo shoot to do, and _not_ repeat this kinda shit too often in the near Future.

Barely able to keep himself upright due to the hangover-induced vertigo, he managed to stumble his way into his bathroom. Granted, the first thing he did once he closed the door was drop to his knees in front of the toilet, which was right behind it. There was just no holding back whatever was Intent on coming up, and he wasn’t about to try since he knew that’d just make it even worse. All he could hope to do was hold his hair back since it smelled and felt clean, and he didn’t wanna get upchucked liquor in it, even if it wasn’t.

Finally feeling a lil better a few minutes later, the bassist grabbed hold of the half-wall that extended up from his tub deck. It helped him find his balance as he hauled himself back to his feet, and just in the nick of Time, too. Only seconds after he’d managed to get up, the door was opening behind him, and he’d a feeling it was Aria coming to check on him.

“Oh, my poor Shadow Wolf,” she crooned, taking care to keep her volume down.

“Fuck, remind me not to do that again anytime soon,” Bobby groaned, turning for the sink that was directly behind him.

“No shit,” the tiny woman agreed, not even having to kneel down to grab a rag from underneath it. “Tony’d to carry ya out to the limo so we could leave early.”

“I was kinda wondering how the hell I got back home,” he admitted. “’Cuz I don’t really remember shit after we hit the End of _Open Up.”_

“Well, Howie and the guys’re aware of the plan for Jonas and I to split the role of bass tech,” Aria said. “And for the rest of my brothersta join us as security personnel.”

“How on Earth did that come up?” the bassist queried. “’Cuz I was trying _not_ to mention that, or why we even came up with that plan.”

“He and Gina said something about said plan,” she chuckled. “They dunno about my pregnancy yet, though, before ya ask.”

“Good, ’cuz that was the next question that was gonna come outta my mouth,” Bobby told her.

Once he’d gotten himself cleaned up as much as he could without a full shower, he let her lead him out to the kitchen. Thankfully, their mothers’d already started working on breakfast, both taking care not to cook any meat. He wasn’t entirely sure if that was for his sake since he was bound to wake up sick as a Dog, or if it was for his girlfriend’s. Either way, it was no doubt for the best since catching even a whiff of meat’d prolly make both of them even sicker right now.

Lynda settled a small plate with unbuttered toast on it in front of her younger son, just barely pressing a quick kissta his forehead before turning back to the stove. She knew it was best to keep whatever he started out with light and dry, which was why she’d chosen this option. And she knew what an ass he could be when he didn’t feel good, which was why she didn’t mess with him very much.

It wasn’t long before the bassist was feeling at least a lil better, and by that, he meant like he wasn’t gonna need Pepto-Bismol before Noon. That may not last, and he damn well knew it, but at least he was feeling well enough to deal with the guys. And that was a damn good thing, considering that Cali hadn’t even set a mug of coffee in front of him before they were hearing a knock at the door. Course, at least they were showing up early to collect him for their photo shoot, which meant he could get his explanation from last Night over with sooner.

“I’d a feeling ya were gonna be feeling pretty rough this Morn, man,” Bret chuckled once they’d been let in.

“I dunno how ya _weren’t_ trying to swing from any of the lighting fixtures last Night,” Rikki snickered as they settled on the couch. “’Cuz that’s the kinda shit you’d normally do when ya get that drunk.”

“Did I _really_ get that wasted last Night?” the bassist groaned, his head in his hand as his elbow rested on the counter of his breakfast bar.

“Man, I’m surprised any of us managed to keep track of ya!” he chuckled.

“Or that we foundja passed out in the bathroom after ya _did_ disappear on us for a lil while,” the front man agreed.

“Well, at least I didn’t get _too_ far before I apparently decided to take a nap,” he snickered. “An all-Night nap, that is.”

“Considering you’ve run off on a mini adventure and had to get fansta drive ya to our next tour stop–yeah, running off to nap in the mens’ room’s nothing for you,” CC agreed with a chuckle.

“Don’t even ask, Mama,” Bobby said, smirking as his mother turned wide eyes on him. “’Cuz I remember about half of our tour, and that _ain’t_ one of the things I remember.”

“Musta been _seriously_ schnockered that Night,” the drummer told him. “’Cuz I don’t think I could get drunk enough to forget doing that, then opening up some club after hoursta play DJ for the fans that drove me to my next tour stop!”

“And I really don’t remember doing that,” he chuckled. “No more than I remember doing that even more outrageous claim y’all make against me.”

“What–ya mean shitting in a cereal box and mailing it to the editor at _LA Weekly?”_ Bret snickered.

“I confirm, nor deny that statement, simply ’cuz I can’t remember,” the bassist laughed, grinning as his mother looked sickened, yet fascinated.

Once everybody’d Calmed down so they could have an actual conversation, rather that recounting their supposed tour exploits, Bobby wasn’t surprised that his band mates turned their attention to him. He’d known this moment was gonna come, even before Jonas apparently made even a vague mention of it at their listening party. They were no doubt to start lobbing questions, and he was quick to throw his hand up to stop them before they could get on a roll. If they were gonna ask him anything, they were gonna do it one at a Time so he’d a Hope in Hell of keeping up with them.

Knowing how he got when he wasn’t feeling his best, the trio of blondes nodded their agreement since they couldn’t afford to piss him off today. Starting with Bret, he was asked what on Earth made them decide to split the role of being his bass tech between the youngest Mancini siblings. None of them could come up with anything that’d fill the blank there and help answer further questions.

Heaving a sigh, the bassist wrapped his arm around his girlfriend and pulled her against his side as he looked up at them. Other than maybe Rikki, he was the only one who was in at least a semi-steady relationship at the moment. Their front man just hadn’t felt ready to truly date again after his mid-tour breakup last Year, and none of them blamed him for that. CC was unpredictable in just about every way possible, so none of them knew from one Day to the next whether he was single, taken, or just playing the field–and none of them dared to ask. But even though they all had the potential to have this happen to them, he just happened to be the first to find himself in this situation.

Not in the mood to mince words, Bobby tried to be gentle about breaking the news of his impending fatherhood to his band mates without beating around the bush. To say that all of them were surprised by that announcement was an understatement, but he didn’t really care. Any of them could be sitting in these shoes right now, and he was quick to reminded them of that particular fact as he grabbed his mug with his free hand.

“I mean, I know that,” Bret sighed, shoving his hair back off his forehead. “But I thoughtcha were diligent about using rubbers.”

“And normally, we are,” he confirmed, nodding as he sipped his coffee. “We just got more caught-up in the _Ostara_ celebration than we realized till it was too late.”

Three sets of blue eyes turned their attention to Aria while his family’s all turned to him.

“Hold on a minute,” Don said, holding up his own hand now. “This is the second Time this _Ostara’s_ been mentioned, but nobody’s told us what the hell that is yet.”

“Oh, yeah–that’s right,” the bassist chuckled, miming slapping his forehead since his head hurt too badly to actually do so. “I _did_ say we’d fill my family in on that, just _not_ right before the listening party.”

His girlfriend giggled where she was snuggled against his side. “The basic gist’s that _Ostara’s_ the origins of Easter.”

“Wait, what?” Patty looked confused.

“It’s the Pagan version of Easter that can be traced a lot further back than the Christian holiday,” the drummer chuckled.

“Howddaya know that, though?” the lone ginger queried.

“’Cuz after she and her brothers explained it to the rest of us a few weeks ago, I went to the library and did my own research,” Rikki answered. “Pretty much everything they told us matched up with what I found. If it wasn’t an exact match, it was pretty damn close, so I blamed that on cultural differences instead of calling them liars.”

“Which’s entirely possible,” the tiny woman told them. “One culture might celebrate the same Sabbat a lil differently than another does.”

“How so?” Lynda queried, a curious look on her face.

“I’ma use my own interests here since the Greeks and Romans don’t celebrate two of the same Sabbats that I do,” she Began, waiting till they all nodded.

Bobby simply sat back to listen, ’cuz even _he_ might not’ve heard this part yet.

“During the Sabbat of _Samhain_ –which the majority of the World knows as Halloween now–the Celts’ve their own customs for remembering and Honoring their Dead,” she said. “One such custom’s to bury Apples as a means of feeding the Dead in their Afterlife so they’ll eventually be Reborn for another Lifetime on Earth.”

“Huh, can’t necessarily say that’s a bad thing,” CC mused.

“Well, the Teutons–which included the Finnish Paganism _I’m_ interested in–did the same thing with Eggs at _Ostara,”_ Aria continued. “The idea there wasta infuse Life-giving Energy and properties into the Earth to help with growing abundant crops during the warmer months.”

“Never knew that before,” the front man chuckled, everyone but her family nodding their agreement.

“Well, the point’s that just ’cuz the Teutons did that with Eggs at _Ostara,_ and the Celts did it with Apples at _Samhain_ doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re not Traditions rooted in facts,” the tiny woman explained. “They do those things, but not _every_ Pagan culture to’ve ever Graced the Planet did or does.”

“Which means that while Rikki mighta very well dug that up, he might not’ve,” Bret mused, his expression thoughtful. “Or it mighta been credited to a different culture due to mistranslation, or the verbal story getting mixed up somewhere along the line.”

Nodding, she admitted that that’d happened far more often than one’d think at first, ’cuz at one Time, Pagans’d been forced to pass down their history and Traditions verbally. Even in more recent Times, Witches were persecuted by the monotheistic due to Fear and rampant lies. When one didn’t take the necessary Time to learn about things they didn’t understand, they tended to Fear those things–and that Fear oft wound up instilled in the generationsta follow.

To keep their conversation from getting too far off track, or having a debate that turned into an argument break out, Aria was quick to Circle back to the original topic. Bret, Rikki, and CC quickly nodded when she made sure they remembered what they’d been told about and witnessed during _Ostara,_ which made her turn her attention to her boyfriend’s family.

Even Lynda was fascinated to learn that it was the first of the Spring Sabbats, not to mention one of the Fertility Sabbats. She listened just as Intently as her older children as the tiny woman explained that many Fertility Rites were performed during _Ostara, Beltane,_ and even the first Summer Sabbat, _Litha_. For that reason, she’d invited Bobby to at least watch since she believed there was no better way to learn about Paganism besides that and just diving in for hands-on experience. It’d been _his_ choiceta go even that far, never mind actually join in on enacting the _Great Rite,_ just like for everyone else.

“I guess ya could say I was too curious for my own good,” the bassist chuckled. “But knowing that none of them were forcing me into it made me wanna just jump in even more.”

“As long as ya weren’t forced into it, baby boy,” his mother said, a bit of a stern note coloring her voice as she looked at Cali and Aria.

“That’s the thing about Witchcraft,” she giggled. “We’ll teach and Guide where we can, but never force another into our ways.”

“I raised my children under the Greco-Roman Pantheon due to my being Greek, their father Italian,” her mother explained. “When she decided she was more interested in the Ancient Celts and Teutons, I didn’t try to stop her.”

“Mostly ’cuz I _really_ like the Spirit Nights, but the Greco-Romans historically don’t celebrate those two Sabbats,” the tiny woman told them.

_“Spirit Nights?”_ Patty queried.

_“Samhain_ and _Beltane,”_ Aria answered. _“Samhain’s_ basically the Night of Remembrance and Honoring one’s Ancestors, so there’s a Darker undertone to it. As its polar opposite, _Beltane’s_ the Night when other Creatures–like the Fae–come to play and make merry while Pagans celebrate the Earth coming back to Life for the Year.”

“Which gives it a Lighter undertone than _Samhain,”_ she mused.

“Exactly. And all the other Sabbats’re Balanced like that, too, but we’ll get into that later,” the tiny woman promised.

“The point we’re trying to make is that it was entirely my choiceta join in on the _Ostara_ festivities,” Bobby told them. “But we’re both just as much at fault for forgetting the rubber as the other.”

“And God knows ya prolly wouldn’t have thought about it during the week afterward, either,” Rikki chuckled. “Well, that’s assuming ya so much as popped a boner in your sleep, of course.”

Laughing, the bassist refused to admit what his body did or didn’t do at any given Time, especially with his mother in the room. But he was quick to say that he wouldn’t be surprised if they sat down later on to compare notes, as it were, and realized they’d an identical experience as the other. He just wasn’t sure how to even try describing it to anyone who _hadn’t_ gone through that experience with them, ’cuz he honestly wasn’t sure that such a thing was even possible.

Finally feeling well enough to even attempt such a thing, he said it was prolly Time to get changed into something other than his PJs. They weren’t late to their photo shoot as of yet, but if they didn’t watch it–especially with the traffic in this area–that’d Change with a quickness. If it was at all possible, he didn’t wanna wind up late and get bitched out by Howie over something they couldn’t Control.

The tiny woman was quick to agree, assuring the others that they’d talk about any topics they’d somewhat delved into later. No doubt Bobby’s family was still curious about the chosen Spirituality of herself and her family, and one spent a Lifetime learning about that kinda shit. As if that wasn’t enough, no doubt his band mates were all curious about how pregnancy was gonna affect her, considering her condition. Just like her Spirituality, though, she knew that’d take Time they didn’t have to cover, so it was best postponed till after their professional obligations.


	19. Nineteen

At the warehouse his band had once squatted in, but since bought so they’d have somewhere to use for photo shoots and the like, Bobby headed into his old _bedroom_. There was an unspoken, but blatant refusal to let his band and manager see what was in the garment bag he carried till the outfit was on him, and thankfully, nobody tried to argue with him. He just hoped that having to stand still for his would-be mother-in-law–especially while she was all but copping a feel–turned out to be worth it and then some.

Unzipping the garment bag once it was hung up, he was more than pleased with what he pulled out one piece at a Time. Considering how many Times he’d stood still on Cali’s pedestal for her to so much as _quintuple_ -check his measurements, he was absolutely sure each piece’d fit perfectly. If anything drove him a lil nuts, it’d prolly be having his crotch and ass put on quite the display once again.

Just as the bassist’d suspected, the britches that’d been tailor-made to his frame were a bit snug exactly where he’d thought they’d be. Rolling his eyes, he sighed as he closed the fly and grabbed the suspenders made to match the Roses marching up and down the outside of the pant legs. It was a typical marketing tactic to say _Sex sells, baby!,_ so while he was definitely used to it, that didn’t mean he liked it. As far as he was concerned, that just got more and more girlsta chase after him, and now that he was happily attached, that was no doubt gonna be a problem. However, he put those concerns far from his mind as he pulled the matching jacket off its hanger to shrug into.

Once it was settled into place and buttoned, Bobby was pleased to find that it was actually looser than it appeared. There was plenty of give–especially in the seams where the sleeves attached–that allowed him to move and breathe without the slightest hindrance. In fact, he’d almost say that he never wanted to take this particular outfit off, it turned out to be so comfortable. But he knew it’d start smelling eventually, and Aria wasn’t gonna let her mother’s hard work be ruined like that.

“Hot damn, Bob–lookin’ snazzy!” Rikki laughed when he finally stepped out to rejoin the rest of the group.

“Where the hell’dja get this?” Bret queried, approaching just enough to get a good look without getting _too_ far into his personal Space. “I’d swear it was tailor-made just for you, if I didn’t know any better.”

“’Cuz it _was,_ man,” the bassist chuckled.

“No fuckin’ way,” CC breathed as he took his turn at getting a good look.

“It started out as a design stuck in my head while I was coasting through subspace,” he explained. “When Mama Cali caught me attempting to put it on paper–well, she somewhat took over since she does that kinda thing for a living.”

“Wish we’d known ya were gonna get her to do this kinda thing for ya,” the front man chuckled.

“Honestly, I didn’t ask her to, nor was I gonna,” Bobby admitted. “But when you’ve a Greek woman insisting on doing something for ya ’cuz you’re one of the few who cares more about her daughter’s personality than her physical height, ya don’t argue.”

“Best choice one can make in that situation,” Cali agreed with a laugh. “Especially when that Greek woman spent at least twenty Years with an Italian.”

“I think trying to argue against that’s a good way to lose the heart of one’s masculinity,” the drummer laughed.

“And lemme tell ya, whether she’s pissed at me for accidentally knocking said daughter up or not, I’d very much like to _not_ lose the heart of my masculinity,” his friend said. “As long as I don’t do anything stupid like take off for parts unknown, I think I’m good.”

“But doing the same thing both your dads did–yeah, that’s a recipe for losing _at least_ your junk, but prolly your Life entirely,” Rikki mused.

Nodding his agreement, the bassist headed over to get to work on his hair since he hadn’t done anything but brush it yet. As the blondes were working on their own after changing into their shoot attire a short while later, he made it quite clear that he’d no Intention of doing such a thing. Even if he _didn’t_ know about the Mancini siblings’ suffering after being abandoned by their father, he remembered his own after being abandoned by _his_ father all too well. He didn’t have it in him to put his own child through that, no matter how rough the going got between being a father and in a band at the same Time.

Putting that in the back of his mind for the moment, Bobby said they’d talk about that kinda shit more later on. He didn’t want his personal troubles affecting the band more than they had to, especially by putting him in a bad mood right before a photo shoot, interview, or anything of the like. The best thing to do was just shut up and let it be for the moment so they could all focus on the task at hand.

Before long, all four band members’d been dragged off to separate corners so they could all get their parts of the shoot done at once. Standing against a brick wall with minor amounts of graffiti spray painted on it, Bret was supposed to look almost like he was inviting the brave to come and play. Considering that he’d a pair of chicks dressed as very naughty policewomen holding the leashes of what looked like a pair of Dobies behind him, it was definitely an invitation that wasn’t for the faint of heart. Then again, neither was CC’s predicament, his made him appear to be a prisoner about to be tortured in every way possible–including having his knee caps shot out or something.

Rikki’s scene didn’t exactly stand out that much, but then again, it was pretty simple with him settled in front of a wall of TV screens and looking kinda mean. However, while the guitarist’s took the cake for looking evil, the bassist’s took it for looking like something straight outta a dystopian apocalypse or something.

One side of his new outfit was on display for the camera as he stood on what appeared to be a pile of rubble that’d once been musical instruments. An old-fashioned Light post was more or less in the foreground in front of him, a carefully-placed Fire burning behind him. Just behind that fire was a sign that warned of road construction up ahead, and nobody could quite figure out where they’d gotten half the props for his and the shortest blonde’s scenes. Course, even Aria and both their families didn’t suppose it really mattered, as long as they’d been begotten more or less legally. That, and as long as swiping things like the warning sign didn’t endanger anyone else’s Life, having such things just showed the guys’ crazy, but Creative sides.

“Fuckin’ finally,” the band sighed in unison, unable to help a laugh once they were finally turned looseta change again, if they wanted to.

“This was fun, even if it _was_ a bit annoying,” Bret chuckled, shrugging outta the leather trench coat he’d wound up in.

“Oh, don’t even get me started on annoying–or uncomfortable, for that matter,” Bobby laughed. “’Cuz nothing’s topping being felt up by my damn band mates for a good, long while!”

“Wait, you’re not being serious–are ya?” Tony queried with a laugh of his own.

“Dead fuckin’ serious, man,” he answered. “I’ve still got that picture somewhere back at the house, so you’ll see it eventually.”

“There’s a part of me that’s curious, but another that doesn’t wanna know,” the oldest of the brothers admitted.

“It was a group shot of me, Bret, and Rikki,” the bassist explained. “The photographer wanted me in the middle so my arms were wrapped around their shoulders, but that wasn’t quite good enough.”

“Next thing we know, Bobby’s being told to stand on tip-toe,” Rikki snickered. “Bret and I got told to make it look like we were trying to cop a feel from either side of him.”

“So, there I was–all but hanging by their shoulders like they were living crutches while they’re appearing to pick me up by my crotch,” Bobby chuckled. “Doesn’t really get more annoying or uncomfortable than being felt up by your best friends, which makes ya wanna squirm to get their hands away from your crotch when ya know ya can’t so ya won’t fuck up the shot.”

“Can’t say I disagree there in the slightest,” Nico told them. “I think the only thing that’d make it worse is if ya were bound by blood like my brothers and I were.”

“Oh, fuck all that noise!” he laughed, shrugging outta his Rose jacket. “The Day anyone else–especially Butch–triesta grab me like that and their name ain’t Aria’s the Day someone’s gonna die!”

“I should damn well hope _I’m_ an exception,” said tiny woman giggled as she did just that.

Her boyfriend let out a surprised yelp as she gave him a gentle squeeze before giving her a bit of a hard look. “Cut it out, woman, before we wind up scarring the guys– _and_ our families!”

Grinning mischievously, Aria told him she doubted they could do much worse than enacting the _Great Rite_ in front of them, but she wasn’t gonna push his buttons. She was pretty sure that there was more to do when it came to the album’s photo shoot, so now wasn’t the Time or place for such a thing. And she turned out to be right since they were about to move on to the photos for the album’s inner sleeve, now that they’d gotten shots for the back cover.

Since this was the easy part, considering it could be done just about anywhere, they decided to start with Bobby and CC posing with their cars. The guitarist merely leaned up against the driver’s door in his, his trench coat that he’d changed into looking more like a dress on him. Following that shot, the photographer they were working with decided on a shot of the bassist behind the wheel of his, grinning as he appeared to be about to head out on some wild adventure. However, he wound up talked into smething he ordinarily _wouldn’t_ have done for his next shot, which was relatively tame for him.

Once he was settled in the Center of his T-top roof, he made sure the heels of his cowboy boots weren’t gonna knock out his windshield. Considering that he was in a well-ventilated Space and his pregnant girlfriend wasn’t close enough to be affected, he decided to take his chanceta have a smoke. That was why the shot that was captured showed him with a cigarette hanging outta his mouth, his hands working to stuff his pack and lighter back down in the pocket of the shirt he’d changed into. He didn’t miss the disapproving look that Cali and her sons all shot him, which just made him grin sheepishly and shrug.

After nabbing those shots of the bassist in and on top of his car, the photographer they were working with posed his next idea. Grabbing a shot of Bret and Rikki with their bikes designed to look like they’d stopped to gas up before heading out on a ride seemed like a Natural idea. But the one that made just about everybody look a lil uncertain was the one thrown out for the wildest of the band.

For once in his Life, Bobby wasn’t entirely sure about taking off on his bike without his helmet, but then again, he’d a lot more reasonsta wanna live now. But when it was all said and done, he knew such a shot’d fit the whole theme of _Nothin’ but a Good Time,_ and maybe even _Back to the Rocking Horse,_ too. It’d catch him when he was having the most fun aside from onstage since he wasn’t about to let a photographer in his bedroom on one of his dirtier Nights. When it was posed that way, even his tiny girlfriend had to agree that this was prolly the better option to go with. She still insisted that it not be done till a less busy Time of Day, or at least one of the less busy roads, if it’d to be done in broad Daylight for the best shots.

“Ya act like you’re terrified of him not coming back or something,” the photographer laughed.

Aria shared a look with said boyfriend, who nodded so discreetly that nobody else saw him do it before turning a dirty look on the photographer. “Considering that I’d rather not raise his baby by myself due to a stupid reason, yeah–I _am_ more than a lil terrified of him not coming back to me.”

The jaws of Howie and the rest of the gathered crew dropped, said manager turning his attention to the lone brunette band member.

“Hey, I literally _just_ found out a couple Days ago,” he said, sounding a mite defensive. “I didn’t wanna say anything about it right before the listening party and be the reason everybody’s mood got dampened.”

“Then when _were_ ya planning on saying anything about it?” Howie demanded.

“After this photo shoot,” the bassist answered. “I’d have to fill ya in on why the Mancini brothers were offering their services as security, as well as splitting the role of my tech with Aria. But let’s be real here–don’tcha think it’s smarter to worry about arguing over that kinda shit _after_ we get through the shit that’d already been planned and booked?”

Unable to come up with a good enough argument to counter that, his mouth opened and closed a few Times as he floundered for a response.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought.” Bobby snorted and rolled his eyes as he shoved the cigarette butt he’d taken the final drag of into a pot of Sand. “Which means shut up and lemme go trade out my car for my bike while Bret and Rikki’re getting their shots done, and we’ll argue about this later.”

While the others were moving their bikes over to the gas station across the street–or in CC’s case, taking their personal shoot back inside–he left their manager with no Time to argue. Only pausing long enough to give Aria a quick kiss and swear he’d wear his helmet on the way back here and to his house after they were done, he was quick to hop into his car. The good thing was that he’d his ways of surprising others without hurting himself, ’cuz he’d another idea in mind for himself. It’d take a lil bit of finessing, but he was sure he’d be able to do it safely, which was the tiny woman’s main concern.

Not long after he’d taken off to make that quick vehicular switch, the bassist was Returning on the bike she loved riding bitch on. But in the place where she’d normally be settled, his favorite acoustic guitar was bungie-corded to the back rest. Even Howie cocked a brow as he parked so he could climb off, wondering just what he was up to since Bret was supposed to be the one being photographed with his guitar today.

Since they’d wanted him in a couple different places outdoors, Bobby’d come up with the idea of being somewhere like on the warehouse’s rooftop or something. While he was sitting there, he could either actually be playing his guitar, or just posing to look like he was when the shutter closed. If he was posed just so at that Time, it could easily be made to look like all three blondes were with him, and they were jamming ideas for new tunes already. That, or it could be made to look like the picture’d been taken when they were still in the writing phase of this new album. God knew it wasn’t much different than the shot already planned for the front man, or the one depicting him skateboarding down a staircaseta show how much of a daredevil he was.

Given that they didn’t really have any other ideas and he was the most private outta the band, the photographer decided not to argue with him. In fact, it was said man who shut up their manager before he could get started by saying it was worth at least trying to work with. The fact that he knew him just well enough not to push him spoke volumes, but it also earned him a smile.

More than ready to wrap up this photo shoot, the bassist made sure his guitar was in good hands with Bret before stealing one more kiss from his girlfriend. Already settled on his bike, that was easier than it normally was since he didn’t have to lean down to her, nor did she’ve to stretch up to meet him. Only once she was reassured that he was gonna be as safe as he possibly could did he fire up his bike, waiting till the photographer’d taken off ahead of him in the bed of the crew’s truck. That was when he pulled out behind said truck, a wild grin plastered to his kisser as he flew down the road behind them in typical Poison fashion.

But his mind was far from empty as he let the photographer capture his shots, even though he’d a couple less things taking up real estate there now.


End file.
